Tales of Gallifrey: The Secret History of Rose Tyler
by TimeLordPrime
Summary: This story is set in my War of the Guardians Universe. It tells the untold until now adventures of Rose Tyler's past as the Time Lady Arkytior. It will showcase many hidden chapters of the life of Rose's first incarnation and will include frequent appearances by Theta Sigma (The Doctor), Koschei (The Master), and Cliodna (Amy Pond's original Time Lady self).
1. The Fateful Meeting

TALES OF GALLIFREY: THE SECRET HISTORY OF ROSE TYLER

CHAPTER 1

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you to everyone who has read The Adventures of Rose Tyler, Time Lady. It has reached 10,000 views! **

**This series is set in my War of the Guardians universe and is set concurrently with my It's Better With Two title for Rose. The adventures on the Gallifrey of the past could be anytime within the two hundred year lifetime of Arkytior, Rose's first incarnation as a Time Lady. This particular story is right before the Reunion of the Daleks in It's Better With Two for Rose and during Arkytior's time at the Time Lord Academy for the parts set in the past. **

The Fateful Meeting

Jackie Tyler was sitting in a lawn chair in her front yard letting the soft, gentle breeze blowing around her relax her. She found herself wondering as she usually did what Rose was up to back in their original universe. She wasn't sure if she'd want to know the details or not. They'd probably make her hair turn white. She would just be satisfied with knowing if she was alright.

As if in answer to her unspoken question, Jackie heard the sound of a TARDIS materializing nearby and immediately jumped out of her chair. She hoped that it was Rose. She loved Jenny, but she really wanted to see Rose right now.

Jackie smiled as she saw the familiar hot pink sports car sitting on her lawn. Only her daughter would pick something like that as a disguise for a time machine. It was just so Rose.

Rose emerged from the trunk of the car, which was the way into the Console Room, and started to smile as she saw her mother waiting there for her. She raced over to her and gave her a massive hug. Both women had missed each other greatly. Rose hadn't seen Jackie in at least a few weeks.

"Are you okay, Rose? I had a really bad feeling about you not too long ago. It felt like you were in trouble. I guess that's just me being ridiculous and overprotective though, isn't it?" Jackie asked with a hopeful tone to her voice.

"Of course it is. I'm fine, Mum. I've never been better," Rose lied.

She hated lying to her mother, but she didn't exactly think that it would be a good idea to tell her that she had died and then been brought back to life recently. Knowing her, she'd probably lock her up in the house and never let her out again. That was if she ever stopped yelling at her long enough to do so.

She was 230 years old, but she still had to worry about being yelled at by her mother. She wouldn't have it any other way though.

"I'm so glad to hear that it was just me worrying too much. I know that you've got all of those powers now to protect yourself with so I really shouldn't worry so much about you, should I?" Jackie asked as if she were trying to talk herself into believing it.

"That's right. You don't need to worry about me at all. I'm impossible to get rid of," Rose said with a grin.

Jackie could tell from the way that she was acting that Rose was lying to her, but she went along with it. She wasn't sure that she wanted to know what had happened to her to make her lie straight to her face like that. It must have been very bad though because she knew that Rose normally didn't lie to her. She wouldn't dare.

"You know I've never seen the inside of your TARDIS before. Do you think that you could give me a tour?" Jackie asked.

Jackie wasn't interested in seeing the TARDIS as much as she was in talking to Shareen, who she knew lived with Rose. Shareen would tell her the truth. She needed to know what had happened no matter how bad it had been.

Rose led Jackie inside of her TARDIS for the first time. She was already suspicious of her mother's motives. She had never wanted to see the inside of her TARDIS before after all.

Shareen was looking at a hologram of Arkytior, Rose's first incarnation, when they walked into the console room. Shareen had just met Arkytior recently when there was a massive time paradox that resulted from Rose and Arkytior meeting each other, and the universe came close to being destroyed.

Jackie stopped dead in her tracks as she asked, "Who is that?"

"That's me. It's what I looked like in my first incarnation," Rose said.

"It can't be. That's just beyond belief. It's just too weird," Jackie said to herself as she shook her head.

"Mum, what are you talking about? You're starting to worry me. I already told you the truth about myself a long time ago once I opened that fob watch," Rose said.

"I know that, Rose. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the fact that I've seen that woman before except she was younger than the one there," Jackie said in disbelief.

"What?" Rose said in complete surprise.

"I met her when I was a kid. I couldn't have been but about eight years old. I was alone and scared, and she helped me," Jackie said as she kept looking from the hologram to Rose and shaking her head.

"Is that true?" Shareen asked Rose.

"I don't remember that ever happening, Mum. I think I'd remember meeting you even if you were a little girl," Rose said.

"I never told you my name, and you never saw my face. I had a Little Red Riding Hood costume on that was too big for me, and the hood covered my entire head. I could barely see in it. That's one reason that I got lost," Jackie said.

"It's true," Rose said in a shocked voice.

"It really happened?" Shareen asked in amazement.

"Well of course it happened! Why would I make up something like that?" Jackie asked indignantly.

"I thought maybe you just saw someone who looked like her," Shareen said as she flinched from Jackie's angry tone.

"No, it was me. I remember now. I can't believe it! I actually met my mum when she was a little girl before I was even Rose. It's official. I'm even worse than the Doctor when it comes to the sheer weirdness in my life," Rose said with a groan.

She began to tell them the story of what had happened that day from her point of view. Jackie would fill in the details from time to time where Rose didn't know or remember them, and Shareen got a full picture from the both of them of just what had happened the day that they had first met.

**Gallifrey, Hundreds of Years Ago**

Arkytior was excited because her class was going to go on a field trip to Earth. She had wanted to go to Earth for the longest time now ever since she could remember. She had loved to read about it and its inhabitants ever since she was a little girl. Now she was finally going to get to see it for herself.

She was beyond excited now as she got onboard the TT capsule (what would be called a TARDIS now) with the rest of her class. She couldn't stop grinning the whole time that they were traveling through the Vortex.

They arrived in the city of London on October 31, 1975. Arkytior had wanted to see this country in particular for some time now. She had especially wanted to try a local human delicacy that a friend had recently told her about called chips. She had a feeling that she would love them. They sounded absolutely delicious.

Borusa, the head instructor of her group, lectured them about what they could and could not do now that they were on the planet as he said, "We are only here to observe and not to interfere. Anyone who tries to interfere in the affairs of any of the inhabitants of this world, even if it is to help them, will be expelled from the Academy for the rest of your life cycle. Is that understood?"

The class all loudly said that they had understood. Arkytior became very, very concerned.

She fought past her usual shyness as she walked up to Borusa and asked him, "Does that mean we can't buy any of the local food and eat it? Would that count as interfering?"

Borusa actually smiled, which was rare for him, as he answered, "No, Arkytior. You're safe if you want to eat some chips. I'll even give you some of the local money to buy them with."

Arkytior breathed a sigh of relief as Borusa took several pound notes out of his pocket and handed them to her. Then she realized that Borusa knew about her desire to eat some chips and wondered how. She proceeded to ask him so, and Borusa's smile got even wider which really began to make the other students around him nervous. Borusa never smiled usually unless he was about to punish someone.

"There's no need to worry. It's not known through the school. Theta told me about it, Arkytior. He's always telling me about how much you love the Earth and want to try out its local foods. He talks a lot about you actually," Borusa said as he smiled at her fondly.

Arkytior was one of his best and brightest students. She and Theta were easily Borusa's favorites even if Arkytior herself didn't seem to realize that. Even after all of the years that she had been his student, she was still hesitant to talk to him most of the time. It was only when it was something that was very important to her that she even attempted to talk to him. This was apparently one of those times. It only showed that Theta had been right when he had told him about how interested Arkytior was in the Earth.

"He talks about me with you? What does he say?" Arkytior asked intrigued.

"Nothing but good things you can be sure. He's always talking about what you like, what you're interested in, or what you're up to lately. If you ask me, he has more than a passing interest in you," Borusa admitted to her.

"He's my best friend," Arkytior said.

"He's much more to you than that I'm willing to bet," Borusa said with a sly grin.

"No, we're just friends, and that's all. We're just really good friends," Arkytior said in a low tone as she looked away from him, and her face turned red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Arkytior. It appears that I was mistaken, and I apologize if I have embarrassed or offended you in any way," Borusa said meaning it.

"No, I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about," Arkytior said with an overeager smile.

She then quickly ran from Borusa and hid among the other students who were already starting to explore the area. Borusa watched her with curiosity for a minute and then shook his head.

He had asked her about this before and had gotten the same result. He had hoped that as time passed that maybe they would have gotten closer together and actually overcome their initial shyness towards each other. Unfortunately, it hadn't happened yet. He wondered if the two of them would ever realize just how strongly that they really felt about each other. He hoped that they didn't go the rest of their lives without telling each other about it.

Arkytior waited in line with some of the others from the school, and then practiced her English as she ordered fish and chips. She eagerly sat down and devoured all of the food with a huge smile on her face. She liked the fish well enough, but she absolutely loved the chips! She had never had anything that good in her life. When you poured what humans called ketchup on top of them, then they were even better if that were possible.

She couldn't stop smiling after having finished them, and she went back and bought some more just to experience that heavenly taste once again. She quickly wolfed them all down in a matter of minutes, and yet she still wanted more.

She was about to go spend all of the money that she had left on buying some more of them when Borusa called out for all of them to go. It was with a heavy heart that she left the restaurant behind. She silently promised herself that she would have some more of this marvelous food someday.

As they traveled through the streets of London, Arkytior looked at each and every sight with awe and wonder. She was soaking it all in and absorbing every detail. She stored every little detail that she saw to memory and knew that she would treasure these moments for the rest of her lives.

It began to get dark, and she saw the streets fill with children dressed in costumes. She smiled as she remembered what day this was.

"In case you're wondering why the children are dressed oddly tonight, this is the holiday that many humans throughout the world celebrate known as Halloween. Children across this world dress in costumes and go from house to house asking for candy. They commonly say "Trick or Treat" when they do this," Borusa lectured.

"What does 'Trick or Treat' mean?" one of the students asked.

"It means that they are asking for candy; and if they don't get it, they will pull a trick on the person who doesn't give it to them," Borusa explained.

"What kind of tricks? Do they blow something up in their yards? Maybe enlarge their pets to the size of dinosaurs and set them after them? Shrink them down to the size of a small doll perhaps?" Koschei asked mischievously.

"No, Koschei. The tricks are much less violent than that. More like putting toilet paper all throughout their yards," Borusa explained.

"That's nothing. What kind of fun is that? That won't make them give them the candy. They have to explode a couple of trees in their yard and send them a clear message! Give me candy, or you will suffer the consequences!" Koschei said with madness in his eyes.

"You're always wondering why people don't invite you to parties. That's why," Theta Sigma said as he rolled his eyes.

"What? Nothing but some harmless fun," Koschei said with a massive grin on his face as he thought of ways that he would celebrate such a holiday.

"I'd hate to see your definition of harmful if you think that's harmless," Theta said with a sigh.

Arkytior smiled at the banter between the two. The two of them were as close as brothers, and they argued just like brothers as well.

"Those two are incorrigible, aren't they?" Cliodna asked.

"Yes, they're both idiots!" Arkytior agreed with a wide grin.

"They're our idiots though," Cliodna said with a laugh.

"Yes, they are. The three of you are my only friends, and I love you all," Arkytior said, suddenly turning serious.

"We love you too, Ari. I'll say it for those two as well because you know that they're never going to say it. Especially not Theta," Cliodna said.

"Don't start on that today. I'm trying to enjoy my trip to Earth. Borusa's already done that to me today already. Not you too," Arkytior said as she started to get angry.

"Alright, alright! Don't listen to me. Just wait until you go through all of your regenerations waiting on good old Theta to finally figure out how you really feel about him. Whatever!" Cliodna said with a deep loud sigh.

"I know that you mean well, but you don't understand the situation. Just leave it well enough alone," Arkytior said.

"In other words, 'Mind your own business, you annoying little busybody!' That's what you're saying in a much nicer way," Cliodna said with a grin.

Arkytior only laughed but said nothing. Cliodna had already said it all for her.

That was when she noticed a little girl around eight years old, if she was guessing correctly, who was dressed up in a huge, oversized red hood and cloak. It was so big that you couldn't even see her face inside of it. All that showed through the hood were multiple strands of blonde hair sticking out from underneath the edges of it.

Arkytior might not have even noticed the child despite the oversized costume except for one thing. The girl was crying and obviously upset about something.

"Something's wrong with her," Arkytior said to Cliodna.

"You remember what Borusa said. If we interfere here, we'll get kicked out of the Academy for good," Cliodna reminded her.

"It won't hurt just to talk to her. Maybe I could cheer her up," Arkytior said.

"You have the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever known," Cliodna said with a warm smile.

Arkytior walked up to the little girl and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay? I'm obviously lost. I got separated from my grandmother, and I can't find her," the child said with a mixture of attitude and fear in her voice.

Arkytior could tell that she was scared to death but trying not to show it by acting tough. Her hearts went out to her, and she knew right then that she was going to help her no matter what.

"Where was she at when you saw her last?" Arkytior asked.

"She was near that restaurant where they sell the great tasting chips. I stopped there to look in the window because I wanted some, and then she was gone. She had walked on without me without even noticing that I was gone. I've been trying to find her forever, but I don't see her anywhere," the little girl said in despair.

"You should have stayed there instead of moving around so much so that she could retrace her steps and find you," Arkytior said.

"I know that now. Telling me that now doesn't help me any at all. I need help finding her not for somebody to point out my mistakes," the girl said with the return yet again of that attitude of hers.

"You're right. I'm sorry. Why don't you go back to the restaurant, and tell them that you're lost? They can try to help you," Arkytior suggested.

"I don't remember where it was now. I've never been here before, and I don't know where anything is," the girl said as her attitude began to give way to despair yet again.

"I know where it was. I can take you back there if you want," Arkytior offered.

The child hesitated for a minute as she mulled this over, and then she asked, "How do I know that I can trust you? I mean who are you anyway? What's with that get up that you're wearing?"

"What get up?" Arkytior asked.

"I'm talking about that weird looking costume that you're wearing right now. Aren't you a little old to be dressing up for Halloween? What are you supposed to be anyway?" the girl asked.

Arkytior realized that the girl was talking about her Academy outfit. She had been told that her perception filter would make the humans not notice what she was wearing, but this child obviously did. She must be very intelligent and have tremendous willpower to see through the perception filter's effects.

Arkytior struggled to think of what kind of costume that she could say she was wearing. The red hooded costume that the little girl wore brought to mind the old Earth story that she had learned about when she was a child herself.

"You're supposed to be Little Red Riding Hood, right?" Arkytior guessed.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to. Only my grandmother made the costume by hand instead of buying it like a normal person, and she made it way too big. You can't even see me through this stupid thing!" the girl complained as she pointed at the red hood.

"Well, I'm a fan of little Red Riding Hood too you see so I came as one of the characters from it too. It's odd that you came as her because I came as the Big Bad Wolf," Arkytior said thinking on her feet.

"What are you talking about? You don't look anything like the Big Bad Wolf, and you don't seem to be much of a villain at all. You seem about as dangerous as a kindergartener to me wearing that ridiculous looking costume," the girl said.

"I'm the Big Bad Wolf in disguise though. Do you remember how it disguised itself as Red Riding Hood's grandmother? I'm the Bad Wolf disguising itself as a young woman wearing really weird clothing. No one would ever know that I'm really supposed to be the Wolf at all, and that's when I'd get them," Arkytior said with a big grin.

"Now you're starting to scare me. You sound a little like a nutter," the girl said warily.

"Oh, you don't have to worry. I'm not that kind of Bad Wolf. I'd never bother a little girl like you," Arkytior said, having fun with this story.

"Well you shouldn't call yourself the Bad Wolf then. You should call yourself the Good Wolf, shouldn't you?" the girl said as she talked to her like she was stupid.

"Maybe but calling myself the Bad Wolf just sounds cooler, doesn't it?" Arkytior said with a big grin.

"You sure you're not a nutter?" the little girl asked.

"When did I ever say that I wasn't a nutter? I never made any such claims," Arkytior said with a chuckle.

The little girl laughed along with her, and Arkytior could tell that she felt a little better than she had when she had first saw her. She was happy and appeared to be relaxed now. If only she could get her to go with her to search for her grandmother now.

She was about to attempt to ask her to go to the restaurant with her again now that they had gotten to know each other better when she heard a woman's voice saying, "There you are! Where have you been? I've been searching everywhere for you. You've had me scared to death."

"I stopped to look at a restaurant, and you walked off without me. I tried to find you, but I couldn't. I was so scared until I found this nice lady. She actually made me forget that I was afraid for a while," the little girl explained.

"Thank you for staying with her until I could find her," the woman, who was obviously the little girl's grandmother, said.

"No problem. I couldn't just let her sit there and cry without trying to help her," Arkytior said.

"You could have like everyone else around here has, but you didn't. Thank you so much for that!" the girl's grandmother said.

"I was glad to do it. You take care now, and don't go getting lost anymore, okay? I don't want to have to spend my entire life helping you," Arkytior said with a grin.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sticking to her like glue from now on. I wouldn't want to have to look at that horrible costume again," the little girl said.

Then the little girl ran over to Arkytior and hugged her tightly as she whispered into her ear, "Thank you!"

She left with her grandmother then, and Arkytior smiled to herself. She suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring into the back of her head, and she slowly turned around to see to her horror that Borusa had been watching what she had done.

"You've broken the non-interference agreement that all students of this Academy are bound by when we visit other times and places, Arkytior. I'm afraid that this means that you're going to have to be expelled . . . permanently," Borusa said with a stern look on his face.

"It was worth it. That little girl might have continued to wander off and never found her grandmother if I hadn't kept her in one place long enough," Arkytior said.

"You would do it, wouldn't you? You would actually give up everything just to help one human that you'll never see again," Borusa said.

"Yes. I'd never be able to live with myself if I didn't," Arkytior said honestly.

Borusa's face suddenly changed from hard and stern to a gentle smile as he said, "Your big hearts may prove to be your undoing someday, Arkytior. Not today though. I won't tell anyone about this if you'll do one thing for me."

"Anything you want. What is it?" Arkytior asked as she let out a sigh of relief.

"Ask Theta out on a date," Borusa said with a laugh.

**Present Day, Earth**

"So what happened next?" Shareen asked deeply involved in this story now.

"I tried to ask the Doctor out on a date but as usual he had no clue that it even was a date. I asked him to sneak out with me to look at the stars outside of the Capitol one night. He never seemed to realize just how romantic it was for the two of us to be sitting out there alone at night looking up at the stars together. All he could do was go on and on about the life cycle of the Flutterwing. That's a Gallifreyan insect that looks like a butterfly. I'm sure that neither of you know that the Doctor has a very strange interest in butterflies. He actually has a butterfly room on the TARDIS. Don't ask me what it's all about. I never knew," Rose said with a chuckle.

"I still can't believe that you're the one who helped me that day. I was so scared, and I didn't know what I was going to do. For a long while after that, I thought that you must have been my Guardian Angel. It seemed like that you were sent there just to help me. My grandmother never would believe me when I said that you were wearing an odd costume. She said that you were wearing ordinary clothing. I never did understand that until now. Although I still don't quite get how that perception filter stuff works," Jackie said.

Rose looked at her mother for a long time then as she weighed a decision in her mind, and then she finally said, "Mum, there's something that I have to tell you."

"Well, it's about time. I thought that you'd never come clean with me about whatever it is that happened to you recently," Jackie said.

"You knew?" Rose asked astonished.

"You're a terrible liar, Rose. I saw through your story about being dressed like the Big Bad Wolf when I was a kid, and I've gotten even better about seeing right through you as the years have passed by. I know you better than you know yourself, Rose Tyler," Jackie said.

"I'm sorry, Mum. I shouldn't have kept anything from you. You're not going to like what I'm about to tell you though," Rose said with a serious face.

"It's okay, Rose. I'll put up with it because I know what you really came here for. You've wanted to talk to me about it this whole time without even realizing it yourself. You're just as scared about what occurred to you as I was when I was lost all of those years ago. You helped talk me through my fear back then until I felt better, and now it's my turn to return the favor," Jackie said.

"It seems that we've both been helping each other a lot longer than either of us thought," Rose said.

"Maybe it wasn't a lucky accident after all that your TARDIS found me to give you to when you made yourself into a baby. Maybe the universe has always been drawing us together, Rose," Jackie suggested.

"Probably because the universe knows what a great mother you are. It knew how much I'd need you, and how much I still do," Rose said.

The two of them hugged each other tightly once again as Shareen looked on with a smile.

**Next: The story of Rose's first meeting with the Mara as Arkytior.**


	2. The Wolf and the Snake

CHAPTER 2

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**This chapter is set during Arkytior's time at the Time Lord Academy and occurs not too long after the first chapter. **

THE WOLF AND THE SNAKE

Arkytior had never been jealous of anyone in her life. That changed when a Time Lady named Eris started taking a sudden interest in Theta. She would constantly be appearing wherever Theta was and would engage him in conversations for hours on end.

Theta would do his usual babble about nothing, and Eris would just sit there and listen as if she were completely fascinated by it. That was a new experience for Theta. No one had ever actually wanted to listen to him talk on and on before. Usually they invented some excuse why they had to leave in a hurry. Only Arkytior would listen to him for longer than a few minutes, and he could tell that she was just doing it to be nice. He would sometimes catch her with a blank expression on her face, and he could tell that she was no longer listening to him. She was his best friend, and even she couldn't stand to listen to him talk for long.

Eris though was different. She gave her full attention to everything that he said, and she was always complimenting him and telling him how brilliant he was. Needless to say, Theta loved it. He could now be found talking to her all of the time and going places with her that he used to only go with Arkytior.

So yes, Arkytior was jealous. She knew that she had no right to be. She had never been able to gather the courage to ask him on a second date or to even tell him that their one and only date to look at the stars together was actually supposed to be a date in the first place. She was so shy that she couldn't even tell him how she felt about him so he had no idea. This was Theta after all. He was totally clueless when it came to knowing that she felt more for him than just friendship. Much more!

So of course, Theta didn't realize how much he was hurting her by suddenly spending all of his time with this new woman. She knew that in his mind he would think that she would have no problems with it and would probably be happy for him that he had found a new friend. She also knew by watching them together that he had no idea that Eris was even interested in him. He was totally oblivious to her true intentions even though she was practically bashing him over the head with her advances.

After a week or so of Theta practically ignoring her and spending all of his time with Eris, Arkytior was so angry that her Vortex powers had started to trigger. She had found herself starting to glow several times recently and had had to quickly calm herself down in order to keep from being found out. She also had started having bad thoughts about Eris. This frightened her because she was afraid that she might unleash her power on Eris in a moment of anger and ruin both of their lives forever.

She didn't want to hurt anyone. She just wanted this new woman to go away and never come back. In other words, she wanted to scream at her to keep her hands off of Theta. He belonged to her whether he knew it or not.

Cliodna knew that something was wrong with Arkytior, and she didn't have to read her mind to know that it had to do with Theta suddenly spending all of his time with this new woman. She hadn't said anything to her about it for several days now because she knew how Arkytior didn't like it when anyone poked into her personal life. After watching her friend become more and more upset for so long though, Cliodna finally decided that she wasn't going to keep silent anymore.

One day when Cliodna caught Arkytior glaring at Eris like she wanted to shoot her, she finally said to Arkytior, "Ari, we have to talk about this."

Arkytior's anger was immediately hidden as a pleasant smile came over her face to hide it. This was the same smile that she always used whenever she was around Theta now. It fooled him, but it didn't fool Cliodna for a second.

"Talk about what?" Arkytior asked innocently.

"You know what. You need to tell Theta how you feel about him. I know that if you do that then Eris will be out of the picture instantly. If he knew how much you really loved him, he'd never hurt you like this," Cliodna said.

"I'm fine. I'm perfectly okay with it. Theta can spend time with whoever he wants," Arkytior said with that same phony smile still on her face.

"You want to rip her apart with your bare hands, don't you?" Cliodna suddenly blurted out.

"So badly that it frightens me," Arkytior admitted in an unguarded moment.

She realized what she had just said and put her hand over her mouth. She quickly became very embarrassed and ran from the room. Cliodna was like a sister to her, but there were some things that she didn't want to talk about even with her.

Cliodna wasn't giving up yet though. She was tired of seeing the anger and pain on Arkytior's face. She followed her to her room and went right in with her.

"We're talking about this whether you want to or not," Cliodna insisted.

"Leave me alone!" Arkytior screamed at her as her hands suddenly balled up into fists.

Cliodna was taken aback by this sudden display of anger. Arkytior had never yelled at her in all of the time that she had known her. This wasn't like her at all.

"What's wrong with you?" Cliodna asked in concern.

"Get out of my room right now, or you're going to be very, very sorry!" Arkytior threatened her.

The look of pure hatred in her eyes made Cliodna afraid of Arkytior for the first time in her life. As she backed away from her, Arkytior seemed to realize what she was doing. Her eyes suddenly became very sad and full of sorrow.

"I'm so sorry, Cliodna! I don't know why I said that. I didn't mean it. I'd never hurt you," Arkytior said with tears in her eyes.

"Your anger is turning you into a different person, Ari. You're becoming someone I don't recognize anymore. You need to talk to him now before you do something that you're going to regret," Cliodna advised.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Arkytior continued to apologize as she put her arms around Cliodna.

"It's okay. I forgive you," Cliodna said softly as she returned Arkytior's embrace.

"Something's wrong with me. It feels like I'm not myself anymore," Arkytior admitted.

"Your anger is only going to get worse if you don't talk to him," Cliodna said.

Arkytior nodded and said, "I'll tell him tomorrow. Just give me some time to think of what I'm going to say."

"Do you want my help? I'm here for you if you want to talk about it," Cliodna offered.

"No, I'm fine. I'll be okay. I'm going to do what you said first thing in the morning tomorrow," Arkytior said.

"I hope you do. I'm tired of seeing you in pain," Cliodna said.

She left Arkytior alone then and started to search for Theta. She walked through all of the usual places in the Capitol that he could be found and finally found him alone for once in the library. She watched him silently for a minute as he read a book about Thraskins. She knew that he was totally oblivious to what he was doing to Arkytior.

The anger over this welled up inside of her until she couldn't take it anymore, and she walked over to Theta intending to give him a piece of her mind. Theta looked up at her and instantly tensed up as he saw her angry expression. He looked at her in confusion. He truly had no idea what she was so mad about.

"What's wrong, Cliodna?" Theta asked in a mixture of curiosity and fear.

Cliodna started to tell him, but she knew that Arkytior would never forgive her if she did. Instead she did the next best thing. She pulled her arm back and slapped Theta across the face as hard as she could!

Theta screamed out in pain like a wounded animal and said, "What was that about?"

"You should know what it was about. It's just so sad that you don't. You need to get your act together, Theta Sigma. Arkytior has something that she's going to talk to you about tomorrow morning. It's about something very important. I swear that if you don't listen to everything that she has to say, then I'm going to make that slap seem like a love tap! Do you understand me?!" Cliodna shouted.

"Yes," Theta said nervously.

"Good. That's all that I have to say to you," Cliodna said as she turned around to leave.

"Is something wrong with Arkytior? Is she sick?" Theta asked with worry.

"She'll have to tell you about it herself tomorrow," Cliodna said as she walked away.

Eris walked up to him then and asked, "What's her problem?"

"I don't know. I think that something may be wrong with Ari," Theta said with his face filled with worry.

"I'm sure she's fine. It's probably nothing but jealousy," Eris said.

"Jealousy? Why would Ari be jealous?" Theta asked confused.

"You honestly don't know, do you?" Eris asked in amazement.

"Know what?" Theta asked.

"Never mind, Theta. It's not important. I see that you're reading about the Thraskins. I've always wanted to see Venus. Maybe when we graduate from the Academy, we could go together. What do you think?" Eris asked.

Theta sat there silent with his face clouded with worry, and he never said a word. Eris moved her hand back and forth in front of his face, but he never even blinked. He was so lost in his own mind that he seemed to have forgotten that she was even there.

"Theta? Hello!" Eris said as she got right in his face.

She then did something that she'd wanted to do since the first day that she met him. Something that she was sure would snap him out of his trance. She quickly kissed him right on the lips.

Theta never moved. He hadn't even noticed!

Eris was furious. She stomped away muttering under her breath. Theta sat there lost in worry about the one woman that meant more to him than anyone for hours afterward. He wanted to go to her but knew that if he did before she was ready that she wouldn't say a word. He just sat in the library wondering what to do and worrying about what it could possibly be about.

Cliodna walked by the library later on that night and looked at him in shock. He was still sitting in the same spot that he had been in earlier that day when she had slapped him.

"Theta, have you been here all day?" she asked him.

He never responded, and she could see immediately that he was lost in thought.

After several unsuccessful attempts to get him to respond to her, Cliodna went to find Koschei. The two of them then picked him up and carried him out of the library. They laid him in his bed and then left him there alone in his room.

"It's about Ari, isn't it?" Koschei asked after they left the room.

"What else? They have the weirdest relationship I've ever seen. They both love each other deeply, but neither one of them will admit it. I think that they've convinced themselves that the other one might not feel the same way that they do," Cliodna said with her eyes rolling.

"It makes no sense to me either. Then again, I don't really know anything about love so that's probably why. I've never been in love with anyone," Koschei admitted.

"I don't believe that. What about Ushas? Don't you have some kind of feelings for her?" Cliodna asked.

"No, nothing. Even if I did, it's not like she'd feel the same way. She can't even stand me," Koschei said.

Cliodna could tell that he was lying. She knew that he cared about Ushas despite what he said. He just didn't want to admit it for some reason. It was probably some kind of macho thing. He was almost as bad as Theta sometimes.

"Yeah, sure you don't. I don't believe that for a second," Cliodna said.

"You can believe what you like. I really don't care," Koschei said as he walked away from her in anger.

"What is it with everyone today?" Cliodna asked herself in bewilderment.

Later that night when everyone else was asleep, Arkytior lay on her bed crying. She couldn't sleep. She had worried all night about what to say to Theta in the morning, and she still had no idea what she would do about it. She didn't know whether to tell him the truth or not. Maybe she shouldn't say anything at all. She could deal with Cliodna's anger about it later. She just didn't know if she could tell him that she loved him or not. If he rejected her or worse laughed at her, she wouldn't be able to survive that. She would die inside.

She finally fell asleep from mental exhaustion eventually, and then she had a strange dream later that night. She dreamed that she was walking through the corridors of the Capitol, but there was no one there at first. She felt so alone and depressed, and she could find no one there anywhere. She searched and searched through the entire Capitol but still found no one. Then Theta appeared out of nowhere and began to laugh at her. He pointed at her and started to laugh even harder now. She ran away from him, but his laughter just kept following her.

"I can help you," a disembodied voice suddenly said in her dream.

"What? Who are you?" Arkytior asked in surprise.

"A friend or at least I can be. I've been watching you, and I know what's bothering you. I want to help. Let me help you to take back what's yours, Arkytior. Just say yes, and let me into your mind," the voice said.

"No, I don't even know who you are," Arkytior said.

"I told you. I'm your friend. Let me into your mind, and I can make you stronger and much more self-confident. I can take away your shyness and your fears. I can give you the confidence that you need to stand up to Eris and drive her off. I'll even help you to tell Theta how you feel. You'll be a new person and have a much better life with my help," the voice said.

"What do you get out of it?" Arkytior asked.

"I get to help you. That's all that I need. The satisfaction of having helped a friend," the voice said.

The laughter continued to get louder and louder now until Arkytior had to put her hands over her ears to block it. Then a new chorus of laughs joined in, and she could recognize the voices of some of her classmates now mocking her. The mocking and the laughing continued to get worse and worse until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Let me help you. I can make all of this go away. Do you agree to this?" the voice asked.

"Yes! Yes!" Arkytior screamed in despair.

The dream ended, and Arkytior awoke with a serpent tattoo on her arm now. She had a huge smile on her face, and a snake-like voice that was not hers came out of her mouth and said, "Yes!"

Arkytior now got of bed and got herself dressed. She quickly walked to Theta's room and opened his locked door with golden energy that poured out of her hand. She then shut it behind her locking them both into the soundproofed room. The Mara inside of her was glad that it was soundproofed so that no one could hear his screams.

"Ari? Are you okay? I've been worried about you all day and night," Theta said as he finally came out of his trance upon seeing her. It never even occurred to him to ask what she was doing there in the middle of the night or how she had gotten into his room since Cliodna had locked the door before leaving.

"I bet you have," a voice that both was and wasn't Arkytior's said.

"Of course I have. Cliodna said that there was something very important that you needed to tell me. What was it? Are you sick? Is that it? Is there anything that I can do to help?" Theta asked.

"Yes, you can feel the pain that you put your friend through! Feel it and burn!" The creature speaking through Arkytior said with an evil laugh.

Golden energy poured out of Arkytior's hand and enveloped Theta's body. He began to scream in pain now as the pain continued to get worse and worse.

"Louder, boy! Scream louder. It's like music to my ears," the evil snake-like voice hissed.

"You're not Ari. Who are you? What have you done to her?" Theta asked through his pain.

"I am Arkytior's deliverer from the torment that you in your thoughtlessness have put her through. She asked me to help her, and so I did. I am the dark impulses of her mind given form. The anger and despair that she felt over your betrayal of her called to me across the gulf of space and time and brought me to her. Now she belongs to me. She is the new vessel for the Mara," the Mara said with an evil laugh.

"My betrayal? I didn't do anything to her," Theta protested.

"You were ignoring her to spend time with another woman. What do you call that?" the Mara accused.

"She's just a friend like Arkytior is. I'm not betraying her by spending time with her. Cliodna is my friend too, but Ari never gets angry when I spend time with her," Theta defended himself.

"You just don't get it, do you? Cliodna is not in love with you and Eris is. She wants to take you away from me," a voice that now sounded more like Arkytior's said.

"What are you talking about? Eris isn't in love with me, and I'm certainly not in love with her," Theta said.

"Liar! You would say anything to keep from dying. Tell her the truth," the Mara said.

"I'm . . . not . . . lying. I'd never . . . hurt . . . her," Theta said through the ever increasing pain.

Don't listen to him. You can't believe him. He's already betrayed you once. Destroy him, and then destroy Eris! Get your revenge! the Mara said to Arkytior.

Theta fell over onto the bed and stopped moving. The Mara started to laugh with joy at the sight.

"No! Theta!" Arkytior said as she regained control of herself once more.

The shock of seeing Theta possibly dying had made Arkytior come back, and she raced to check his pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief as she found that it was still there.

Finish him! the Mara's voice said in her head.

SHUT . . . UP! Arkytior shouted to him in her mind in a voice of pure anger.

You could have killed him! I never wanted him to die. I just wanted him to know how I felt. You twisted everything around into something dark and ugly. Arkytior thought.

That's what I do. I feed off of misery and suffering, and I make it worse so that I can make more to feed off of. I'm in your mind now of your own free will; and as long as I'm here, sooner or later I will take control of you again. You can fight me for hours, maybe even days, but I will break you permanently sooner or later. Then I will use you and your incredible power to cause untold carnage and destruction throughout time and space. What a feast that will be! There's nothing that you can do to stop me. Sooner or later, I always win! The Mara said in Arkytior's mind.

Not this time! Arkytior thought.

She began to glow brighter and brighter as she became angrier and angrier at the thought that the Mara had almost used her to kill Theta. The Mara began to scream in pain as Arkytior reached inside of herself and yanked it out of her. She could see it for what it truly was now, and its true form seemed oddly appropriate to Arkytior.

The Mara was a large snake, and it just kept getting larger and larger. It hissed at her in defiance as it leapt towards her in an attempt to take her over again.

Arkytior grabbed the Mara by its throat before it could reach her though and poured energy into it making it scream. Her anger fueled her attack the more that it grew, and she used that rage to disintegrate the Mara completely.

As the snake being's body fell apart in her hand, she began to deliberately try to relax herself. Her anger quickly subsided, and her power faded away again with it. She breathed out a sigh of relief. She had been afraid that she wouldn't be able to shut it back down that time.

Theta suddenly woke up with a huge smile as he saw her standing there and said, "Ari, what are you doing here? It's funny that you're here actually. I just had the weirdest dream about you. You'll never believe it when I tell it to you."

Arkytior ran to him and hugged him tightly in relief now that she knew that he was okay.

"What's this about? It was just a weird dream that's all. Nothing to be worried about," Theta said.

"There's something I have to talk to you about, Theta," Arkytior said as she pulled away from him.

"I know. Cliodna let me know that. She really let me know it," Theta said as he rubbed his face where his friend had slapped him.

"What did she say?" Arkytior asked in fear.

"Nothing much. She just said that I needed to listen to what you had to say, or she'd hit me . . . again!" Theta said as he continued to rub his face.

Arkytior laughed for a minute, and then turned serious as she said, "Theta, I want you to stop seeing Eris. I know I have no right to tell you what friends that you can have, but she bothers me because I think that she has plans to be more than a friend to you."

"If she upsets you that much, then she's gone. I'll tell her in the morning which should be pretty soon now. I'd never knowingly do anything to upset you. You know that right?" Theta asked.

"I know," Arkytior said.

"I'm not interested in her in the slightest so don't mistake my next question as indicating that. I just wanted to know something. Why do you care if she wants to date me?" Theta asked.

Arkytior started to tell him the truth, but she choked up and couldn't make the words come out of her mouth.

"I don't think that she's good for you. I don't want her to hurt you. That's why," Arkytior lied.

"I'll tell her that I don't want to see her anymore in the morning. I can't believe that she ever wanted to be anything more than friends though. If she did, then she was barking up the wrong tree as they say on Earth. I was never interested in her in that way in the first place. I don't need to find a girlfriend," Theta said as he gave Arkytior a meaningful look.

She started to ask him why that was. Her courage deserted her though, and she reminded silent.

"Ari, since you're up anyway, would you like to go outside and see the stars with me again? I never did get to tell you everything about Flutterwings the last time," Theta asked.

"I'd love to," Arkytior said with a smile.

**Next: Arkytior encounters the ghost of a famous figure from Gallifrey's history or does she? What is she really seeing? **


	3. The Ghost of Sekhmet

CHAPTER 3

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**This chapter is set during Arkytior's time at the Time Lord Academy and is just a few days after the last chapter. **

THE GHOST OF SEKHMET

Arkytior would walk by the Statue of Sekhmet every day as she made her way around the Capitol. She had never really given it much thought before because it had long ago faded into the background. She would barely even notice it.

That changed late one night when she was coming back alone from one of her walks outside of the Capitol. She walked past the statue just as she had thousands of times before, and then she heard a voice call out from behind her.

"Help . . . me!" the faint voice said.

Arkytior immediately turned around to see if someone needed her and saw the transparent figure of a woman in front of her where the statue usually stood. Arkytior began to shake with fear as she saw the woman's mouth move, and a ghostly voice emanated from it.

"Please . . . help . . . me!" the voice said again.

Arkytior stood transfixed in terror. She couldn't even breathe. Finally, she became so terrified that she screamed out at the top of her lungs. As soon as she did so, the ghostly figure disappeared; and the statue stood there again in its place.

Several guards came running to answer her scream and found her standing in front of the statue shivering out of control in fear.

"Are you alright? What happened?" one of the guards asked her.

She was so afraid that she couldn't talk to them. She just stared at them in incomprehension. They did a quick scan of her body and compared it to the bio data extracts in the Matrix in order to identify her.

"It is the Lady Arkytior of the House of Lupinesglen. Send someone to contact her mother, the Lady Persephone, immediately," the Captain of the Chancellery Guards commanded.

Persephone was contacted by one of the guards within minutes and immediately came running to see what had happened to her daughter. The two of them didn't always get along that well, but she still loved her and would do anything for her.

She was shocked to see the state that Arkytior was in. She was just staring blindly ahead and not moving.

"Arkytior, are you alright? It's your mother. What happened?" Persephone asked her in a worried voice.

Arkytior never even looked at her. She just stared mindlessly ahead. Persephone had had enough problems with her own mind in the past to know the look of someone in shock when she saw it.

"I'm taking her back home with me. She's obviously had something frighten her deeply in order to do this to her. I'd suggest that you search the Capitol for anything or anyone that isn't supposed to be here," Persephone said as she automatically took command of the guards without even being aware of it. She had fallen back on her old instincts as a General from long ago.

The guards obeyed her without question. They all had great respect for Persephone due to the important position that she held on the High Council. She was in charge of planetary defense after all.

"Captain?" Persephone said.

"Yes, Lady Persephone?" the Captain responded.

"I'd appreciate it if you and your men told no one about this. Arkytior is very sensitive and shy. The last thing that she needs is for something like this to get out," Persephone said.

"I guarantee you that no one will hear about it from us, ma'am," the Captain said as he saluted her.

"Thank you, Captain. I appreciate that," Persephone said with a warm smile.

Persephone then slowly walked her daughter back to the House of Lupinesglen. As they reached their home at last, Persephone couldn't help but think about just how phony it all really was. Lupinesglen was really just a name that Persephone had made up. There was no such House until she had falsified historical records to create it.

She had had to give herself a new identity long ago when Sekhmet had supposedly died. She had wanted to leave Sekhmet behind and start over again. Since that day long ago, she had gone through many identities down through the centuries as she hid her true immortal nature.

Every single head of the House of Lupinesglen had been Persephone under one name or another. She had managed to successfully fool everyone all of this time, and she hoped that she could always continue to do so. She never wanted anyone to know her secret.

She had never even told her own daughter. She regretted that every day, but she knew that it was necessary. If anyone ever found out the truth, both she and Arkytior could be in danger from people who would do anything in order to find out the secret of immortality from her.

She brought Arkytior to her old room now and sat her down on the bed. She continued to try to talk to her, but Arkytior never responded. She reluctantly decided to call a doctor in the morning if her condition didn't improve. She knew that Arkytior would hate for anyone to know about this because she was such a private person, but she had no other choice. She would have to put up with her daughter's anger later.

She then thought of a way to help her daughter that wouldn't require telling anyone what had happened but one person. It was a person that she knew that she could trust when it came to all matters concerning Arkytior although she personally couldn't stand him. Theta Sigma.

She put a call through to his room and waited several minutes as it continued to ring over and over again. She got more and more impatient the longer he didn't answer the transmission. When he finally did answer it in a sleepy voice with his eyes half closed, she was furious.

"Hello? Do you know what time this is?" Theta asked without looking at his monitor.

"Do you know just who you're talking to, Mr. Sigma?" Persephone asked in a voice filled with venom.

Theta sat straight up and was suddenly wide awake then. He recognized Persephone's voice immediately and didn't want to give her yet another reason to hate him. He still didn't know exactly why she hated him in the first place, but he certainly didn't want to add more fuel to the fire.

"I'm sorry, Lady Persephone. I didn't know that it was you. I thought that maybe it was one of my classmates playing a prank on me. Koschei's done it to me before. He thinks it's funny. I thought that it was him," Theta explained.

"I'm not interested in the antics of the band of hooligans that you usually associate with, Mr. Sigma. The only friend that you have besides my daughter that I have any respect for is the Lady Cliodna. Why she wants to associate with you though is beyond me," Persephone said in a hate-filled voice.

"Could you please tell me exactly why you are calling me at this hour of the night?" Theta asked as he got quickly to the point. He was tired of her put downs.

"Something has happened to Arkytior. She won't talk or respond to any form of contact. She seems to be in a state of shock," Persephone explained.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Theta said without hesitation and switched off his monitor.

Persephone briefly smiled for just a minute. That was one good thing that she could say about Theta. He did care a great deal about Arkytior. He would always come to her aide without a second thought whenever she needed him. It was for that reason and that reason alone that she allowed him to be friends with her. She appreciated it that someone was watching out for her daughter even if it was someone as ill-mannered and disrespectful as Theta Sigma.

Once Theta arrived, she could see how worried that he looked so she forgave him when he raced past her as soon as she opened the door without saying one word to her. He knew where Arkytior's old room was without asking since he had once visited her there every day when they were children and before they both had entered the Academy.

She found Theta holding some kind of long cylindrical device up to Arkytior's face that made a strange noise. He ran it up and down her body as if he were using it to scan her with. She gave him a questioning glance as he worked with the strange instrument.

"This is a new invention of my own that I've just come up with in the last few months, Lady Persephone. I call it a sonic screwdriver. This is only an experimental version of course. It's not as effective yet as the one that I use most of the time. That one can unlock and unscrew things, but it can't diagnose people. This prototype can give a mostly accurate diagnosis of the vital signs of someone with a single scan. The batteries on it are drained very quickly though, and it takes forever to recharge them so I rarely use it. Maybe someday I'll make a much better version of this one but not anytime soon," Theta explained.

Persephone looked at him with a small ounce of new respect for this display of imagination and intelligence as she asked, "What does it say then?"

"It's shock as I'm sure that you already knew. According to her vital signs, she's slowly coming out of it though. She appears to be perfectly healthy and to have nothing wrong with her," Theta said with a huge smile of relief on his face.

"Thank you. I didn't want to have to bring a doctor into this. Arkytior would kill me if anyone but you were to find out about what happened to her. She seems to tell you everything. Even things that she won't share with her own mother I'm sure," Arkytior said with bitterness.

"I don't know what you're talking about, my lady. As far as I know, she keeps no secrets from you," Theta said as he defended his friend.

"I wouldn't trust you to tell me even if she did," Persephone said with a burst of sudden anger.

Theta bristled with anger of his own but ignored her comment. The most important matter here was Arkytior and not his lifelong battle with her mother.

"She should be alright soon. Maybe she'll be able to tell us what happened to her then," Theta said as he unconsciously ran his fingers through Arkytior's hair.

Persephone held her tongue for once because she knew that he meant no disrespect to her. She knew for certain that he loved her daughter even though he had so far never admitted it. Anyone could tell that just by watching him when he was around her and the way that he looked at and treated her.

Theta's touch seemed to finally break the spell that Arkytior was under. She suddenly woke up and started to scream once again as loud as she could without stopping. Theta forgot where he was and automatically put his arms around her as he tried to comfort her.

"It's okay, Ari. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you here I promise," Theta said in a soft, gentle voice.

Persephone grudgingly let him hold her daughter because she could see that it was already helping her. His touch and his voice were already visibly calming her down and making her shake less and less the longer that he held her.

She finally stopped screaming as she came out of her shock at last and noticed that Theta was there for the first time. She put her arms around him tightly as if holding onto him for dear life and began to silently cry at what she had seen.

"I saw a ghost, Theta. I saw the ghost of Sekhmet. Her statue came to life right in front of me and started talking to me," Arkytior said in a terrified voice.

"That's not possible, Ari. There's no such thing as ghosts," Theta said with certainty.

"I know what I saw. It was a ghost. The statue came to life and started asking for help. Sekhmet is haunting me!" Arkytior said with terror-filled eyes.

Persephone was shocked. Where had this come from? There had never been any ghost stories about her past self to her knowledge. Where on Gallifrey had Arkytior ever heard of such a thing?

"Arkytior, Sekhmet is not haunting you," Persephone said with absolute certainty.

"Yes, she is!" Arkytior insisted.

"I don't know what you saw, but I know that it was not Sekhmet. She would never hurt a sweet innocent girl like you," Persephone said.

She knew that for sure because she was Sekhmet, and she would never even think of hurting her daughter. She was filled with inner pain and guilt over the fact that if she had just trusted her and had told her who she really was that maybe this would have never happened to her in the first place.

"She's exactly right, Ari. Sekhmet was supposed to be a good and noble woman. She overthrew the tyranny of Rassilon according to legend. That shows that she was a caring and compassionate person. She would never hurt you," Theta agreed with Persephone.

"I saw her statue come to life and ask for help," Arkytior insisted again.

"I believe you that you did see something, but it wasn't a ghost. I'll see if I can find out what it really was," Theta said.

"Do you think that you could help her?" Arkytior then asked in a small voice.

"I thought that you were afraid of her?" Theta asked in confusion.

"I am but she did ask for help. She looked so scared. We need to try to help her if we can," Arkytior said.

Theta and Persephone looked at each other and exchanged a rare smile together. Only Arkytior would still want to help someone who had scared her so badly. That was one of the many reasons that he lo . . . liked her so much. She had the biggest hearts of anyone that he had ever known.

"You're in no condition to go back out right now," Persephone said to her daughter.

Arkytior looked at her as if finally noticing her for the first time now and asked, "Mother? Where am I?"

"You're at home, of course. I brought you here after the guards found you unable to talk or move," Persephone explained.

"They won't tell anyone, will they? People already think badly enough about me because of my shyness without them thinking that I'm insane as well," Arkytior worried.

"No one will say anything," Persephone reassured her.

"That's right. I know that I won't," Theta said.

"I know that I can always trust you," Arkytior said to him with a smile.

Yes, more than you trust your own mother. Persephone thought to herself.

"We have to go and see what Sekhmet wants," Arkytior said as she got up off of the bed and started to go out of the room.

"I told you that she doesn't want anything. She's not haunting you!" Persephone insisted.

"I have to help her, and that's final!" Arkytior insisted.

She raced out of the room now with her mind stubbornly set on going back to the statue. Theta quickly raced after her and so did Persephone.

It was just now starting to become dawn outside, and they could see daylight starting to stream through into the Capitol as they walked toward the old statue. Persephone frowned as she looked at it. She had never thought that it looked anything at all like her. She thought that it made her look too much like a man for one thing. She found herself thinking that whoever had designed it should be shot . . . repeatedly.

As the three of them stood there watching it, it suddenly came back to life again. It was Persephone and Theta's turn to be shocked now as they too saw the transparent woman.

"Help . . . me . . . Gran!" the woman pleaded.

Arkytior suddenly stopped being afraid of the ghostly image now. Whoever it was, she was lost and confused. She was calling for a member of her family in her pain. Arkytior couldn't stand by and do nothing while this poor woman suffered.

She began to reach out to the woman and tried to see if she could grab her hand. She knew that it was a long shot, but part of her hoped somehow against all logic and reason that it just might work.

Everyone was too busy looking at the face of the 'ghost' to notice golden energy begin to pass through Arkytior's hand and into the transparent hand that she was attempting to touch. The ghostly woman suddenly became fully solid, and Arkytior found herself firmly grasping her hand now.

They all looked in shock at this newly materialized young woman as she looked at them with a huge smile on her face. She was tall and blonde and seemed to look very familiar to all of them as if she resembled someone that they knew.

"Oh, thank goodness! I thought that I would be trapped that way forever. Thank you, Gran!" the woman said as she looked straight at Arkytior.

Then the woman's eyes widened in surprise as she realized for the first time just where she was and who she was with.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I've mistaken you for somebody else. You're not the person that I thought that you were. Sorry about that. Just forget that you ever saw me. I was never here," the woman said.

"Wait. Who are you? How did you get that way?" Arkytior asked.

"I was attacked by some kind of new weapon that a very aggressive race of tin pepper pots came up with to use on me. It was very effective too. It displaced me from my own time, and I became lost. I was unstuck and trapped in between times as I wandered through one era of history after another. If you hadn't reached out to me, I'd still be there. Somehow you fixed me by touching me. Thank you!" the woman said.

"I was glad to do it. You really frightened me for a while there though until I realized that I needed to go back and help you," Arkytior said with a relieved smile.

"How did you know that?" Theta asked her.

"I don't know. I could just feel her calling to me. I knew that she needed me somehow. I can't explain it," Arkytior said.

"I should really be leaving now. Thanks for all of your help," the woman said nervously before she suddenly disappeared right before their eyes in a burst of golden energy.

As she traveled through the Vortex headed back to her home in the far future, Jessica Baker heaved a long sigh. Even for her, that was a whole new level of trouble that she had almost stirred up! She resolved not to tell anyone about this little mess. She was just glad that her grandmother had come through for her again just like she always did.

She had concentrated all of her thoughts and willpower on reaching out to her because she knew that she would help. She had reached her first self by mistake, but a Rose under any other name was still the same in her book. She decided that she would go and hug her grandmother when she got back. She just wouldn't tell her why. Knowing her the way that she did though, she probably already knew anyway.

Arkytior stared at the spot where she used to be for a long time, and then she looked at a still staring Theta. She smiled for just a moment as she held onto a brief hope that maybe she would finally be happy with him one day after all.

Persephone looked at Arkytior with suspicion as she realized that she was keeping something from her yet again. She knew that her daughter had some huge secret that she was either unable or unwilling to share with her. She had known that for a long time now. She had no idea what it could be, but she was now sure that it had something to do with the strange woman that they had just seen from Arkytior's reaction to her.

It hurt her deeply that her own daughter didn't trust her enough to tell her about whatever it was that she was hiding. Then again, didn't she do the exact same thing by not telling her about her own secret and her hidden past? She realized with sadness that Arkytior had learned all of her behavior from her. It seemed that the ghost of Sekhmet was indeed haunting her and her daughter, but not in the way that she had originally thought.

She silently swore to herself at that moment that someday there would be no more secrets between her and Arkytior or with anyone else that she might someday come to love either. She didn't know when that day would be, but she knew that when she got to that point in her life that she would have to rename herself yet again because Persephone too would become a thing of the past. On that day when she knew that she was ready to start telling everyone around her the truth, she would be reborn and would have to call herself a new name. Maybe she would name herself after the name of her second favorite flower after the rose. She had always loved the name Lily after all.

**Next: Someone frames Theta for a crime that he didn't commit in an attempt to get him kicked out of the Academy. It's up to Arkytior and Cliodna to find out who and why.**


	4. The Suspension of Theta Sigma

CHAPTER 4

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**This chapter is set during Arkytior's time at the Time Lord Academy and is a few days after the last chapter. **

THE SUSPENSION OF THETA SIGMA

It had started out as an ordinary day. It was a regular school day just like any other in a long unending line of them at the Academy. Arkytior had no reason at all to suspect that this day would be any different from any of the others. She found Theta waiting patiently outside of her door as soon as she was ready to leave just like he did every other day, and he walked with her to class as he babbled on about anything from flutterwings to the many different kinds of candies that could be found on Earth and which ones he liked or hated.

Then everything began to happen all at once, and it all went straight downhill from there. As soon as Arkytior and Theta arrived at class, they could tell that there was something wrong as everyone was standing around talking instead of sitting as usual. Cliodna, their usual partner in crime, came over to them immediately, and they knew that she was about to fill them in on what had been happening before they had arrived.

"What's the story here?" Arkytior asked.

"Apparently someone was trying to take a peek at the answers to the finals. One of the instructors caught someone leaving their office early this morning after having broken into it, but they said that they couldn't get a look at them because they ran away too fast. When they came back, they found that their desk had been broken into; and their exam answers were scattered all over the floor where they had been dropped as whoever did it ran off in a hurry," Cliodna explained.

"It's amazing what some people will do to get a passing grade," Theta said with a laugh.

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" Eris asked with a cruel grin on her face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Theta asked.

"I think you know. I know it was you who did it, Theta," Eris said.

"That's not true," Theta said in outrage.

"The person who broke in left one of those sonic screwdrivers of yours behind when they ran. I recognized it from their description of it," Eris said.

"He was outside my door this morning, and then he walked me here," Arkytior said.

"Can you prove that, or do we just take your word for it?" Eris asked with a smirk.

"It can't be a sonic screwdriver. I have the only ones, and all of mine are still in my room. Maybe someone else built something similar," Theta reasoned.

"Like you said, Theta, you have the only ones. Therefore, if it's one of yours then that proves that you did it," Eris said smugly.

"It does not. It just proves that a very smart person who saw mine once made a very good copy of it and planted it there to use against me in order to frame me," Theta said as he looked at Eris suspiciously.

"Are you accusing me of something, Theta?" Eris asked with anger.

"If he's not then I am. You did all of this. You engineered the whole thing to get him thrown out, didn't you? Just because he decided not to be your friend anymore," Arkytior accused her.

"Certainly not! What kind of person do you think I am?" Eris asked with an indignant face.

"You really don't want us to answer that, do you?" Cliodna asked with a chuckle.

"I don't like it that Theta stopped seeing me for apparently no real reason, but I would never do that to him. I like him. At least I did until I found out that he was a cheater," Eris said.

"You obviously don't care anything about him at all. If you did, you wouldn't be trying to incriminate him for something he didn't do," Arkytior said.

"I do care about him, and that's why I never said anything about knowing who the screwdriver belonged to. I didn't want him to get caught. They're going to find out though eventually. They're talking about searching the rooms while everyone is in here today," Eris warned.

"I really didn't do it, Eris," Theta said in an upset voice.

"I don't want to believe that you did. Even if you didn't, then you're still going to look guilty when they find a bunch of similar looking screwdrivers in your room. They're going to think that it's one of yours," Eris said in a gentler voice.

"That's true. It will look bad," Cliodna admitted.

"Whose side are you on?" Arkytior asked in irritation.

"I'm on yours, of course. Always. I'm just saying that it will look like Theta did it. Someone's gone to a lot of trouble to make him look bad," Cliodna said.

"Who would do that?" Theta asked helplessly.

"Who else?" Arkytior asked as she stared at Eris.

"I didn't do it. I swear I didn't," Eris said as she looked Theta straight in the eye.

"I hope you didn't. You should know that I didn't mean to hurt you in any way, and I'm sorry if I did," Theta apologized.

"I honestly didn't do it," Eris said.

"That remains to be seen," Arkytior said.

"Maybe they'll find out that it's someone else through their fingerprints or by traces of their genetic material on whatever it was that was left behind," Cliodna said hopefully.

"Yeah," Theta said in a distracted voice as he worried about what would happen next.

"I won't let them do anything to you, Theta. Do you hear me? I'll threaten to withdraw every bit of my family's money from the funding of this school if I have to," Cliodna promised.

"No, don't do that," Theta said.

"I will. They're not going to do this to you. You're like a brother to me. This isn't going to happen to you. I know that you didn't do anything. You're too smart to have to cheat. If you ever bring it up that I said that in the future though, I'll deny it," Cliodna said as she began to get upset.

"Hey. It's going to be okay. They'll find out that it's some other person with a similar device. You'll see," Theta said as he put his arm around Cliodna to comfort her.

Arkytior smiled at the sight of that. It was just like Theta to be comforting his friends when it should be himself he should be worried about.

"I hope you're right, Theta. I won't say anything if they ask me," Eris promised.

"I thought that you were so sure that he was guilty a minute ago," Arkytior said.

"I thought that he was at first. I can see that I was wrong now by watching his reaction to the news. I admit that I was biased against him because he stopped having anything to do with me. I'm sure that there was a good reason for it though," Eris said as she glared pointedly at Arkytior.

"I'm glad that you believe me now, Eris," Theta said with relief on his face.

"I should have never doubted you," Eris said as she hugged him tightly.

Theta looked at Arkytior apologetically as she burned holes through the back of Eris' head. She wasn't mad at Theta though. She was angry at Eris. She knew that she was the one behind all of this. She had to be.

The hope that someone else would be blamed was soon dashed though when Borusa, the head instructor of the Deca, came up to Theta with two sonic screwdrivers in his hands. He showed them both to Theta as a group of his fellow instructors stood behind him glaring.

"Do these objects belong to you, Theta?" Borusa asked him in a neutral tone.

Theta examined them closely, and he gulped to himself as he realized that they were both his. How though? He knew that he had all of the sonics locked up securely in his room.

"Yes, sir. They're mine, but I don't know how you could have them. I have all of mine in my room," Theta admitted.

"One of them was found in a search of your room, Theta. The other, its identical twin, was found in another instructor's office this morning after it had been broken into. Is there anything that you wish to confess to us?" Borusa asked.

"They're both mine, but I didn't do it. Someone must have stolen it from my room and planted it there to incriminate me," Theta said.

"I want to believe that, Theta. I really do. I know that you've always been such a brilliant student, and I would think that you would have no need to cheat. I can't deny this very important piece of evidence though," Borusa said sadly.

"Someone's trying to frame me. I don't know who or why but they are," Theta said.

"We'll see about the truth of that accusation ourselves. We're going to give you a fair trial to be sure. Until then you cannot attend classes, and you will be confined to your room in a state of suspension. If you are found guilty, then you will be expelled from this Academy forever never to return," Borusa said.

Theta could say nothing after that. He was shocked. He couldn't believe that this was happening to him. He'd never done anything wrong in his life. How could they think that he ever would? This was all like a dream. It was a really, really bad dream. He kept hoping that he was going to wake up soon, and it would all just be one big nightmare.

He was taken to his room then where he would be locked in with the guards standing at each side of the door on twenty four hour shifts to make sure that he couldn't leave.

Arkytior couldn't believe that this was happening either. She knew that he was innocent, but that didn't seem to matter. All that mattered was that sonic screwdriver that had been found at the scene.

Arkytior somehow made it through the rest of the day, but she didn't remember a bit of it. All she could do was worry about Theta. She resolved to herself that she was not going to lose contact with him even if he did get falsely convicted and expelled. She would keep seeing him no matter what even if she had to drop out of the Academy herself to do so.

At the end of the school day, Arkytior and Cliodna went to Arkytior's room in order to talk. She had been dying to speak with her all day ever since Theta had been suspended.

"What are we going to do now? We have to come up with a way to prove him innocent," Arkytior said in a highly emotional voice.

"Don't worry about it. We will. All that they have on him is that stupid screwdriver. We just have to find out where it came from and how it got there," Cliodna said.

"I know where it came from. It's Theta's. I've seen it before. He had at least half a dozen of them," Arkytior said.

"Are you sure it was his? He was so sure that he still had all of his this morning," Cliodna said.

"Who else could make them? Who else even knew about them besides us and Eris? He didn't show them to anyone else not even Koschei. I don't trust Eris, but I don't think that even she could build a sonic screwdriver from scratch after having seen it only once for a brief time. Someone had to steal one of his," Arkytior reasoned.

"Let's find out for sure. We're going to see him," Cliodna said.

"Are you sure that they'll even let us in?" Arkytior asked.

"I'll get us in. Just wait around the corner out of sight until I signal you," Cliodna said with determination.

Cliodna then went to Theta's apartment that was just down the hall and started to go in when the guards stopped her.

"We are not permitted to allow anyone inside," one of them said.

"Really? Well, maybe I just will withdraw all of my House's funding when I come of age, and then you won't be able to collect your pay anymore. How would you like that? Or better yet, maybe I'll just write your names down and make sure that you two don't get paid in particular. I may just make a few calls and make sure of it myself. I happen to know a few people here and there in high places after all," Cliodna threatened.

"Your threats won't work on us, Lady Cliodna. We still won't allow you in. Do what you want to us later on, but you are not getting into that room," the guard said.

"You know I'd really commend your loyalty and dedication any other time but not now. I need in that room. I need to talk to Theta in order to ask him a vital question that may clear him of this charge against him," Cliodna argued.

"I understand that, ma'am, but I still can't let you in without permission from someone in charge at the Academy," the guard said.

"I can't believe this. I'm going to have your job, do you know that?! I'll have you fired by this time tomorrow!" Cliodna shouted.

She began to gesture wildly as if she were losing her temper. She was really signaling Arkytior to start moving toward Theta's room. Then she began to act sick and started to sway back and forth as if she was dizzy. She began to move away from the guards but pretended to be barely able to stand.

"I feel . . . so dizzy. Something's wrong. Help . . . me," Cliodna said as she pretended to fall backward.

The guards rushed forward to keep her from falling and that was when Arkytior darted into the room while Cliodna began to scream as if she were dying in order to cover the noise of the doors opening. Arkytior rushed inside, and the Doctor looked at her in shock. She put her finger to her lips before he could speak and shushed him immediately.

Cliodna meanwhile suddenly got back to her feet as right as rain once again. She smiled at the guards and said, "I don't know what happened there, but I'm fine now. I think I got too upset about Theta."

"Yes, you did. You need to go lie down in your room, Lady Cliodna. I understand your loyalty to your friend, but there's nothing that you can do now. Just trust that the truth will come out in the trial if he's truly innocent. Go lie down before you make yourself sick," the guard instructed her.

It made Cliodna cringe inside to play the weak, fainting woman in order to get Arkytior inside since that was so not her, but it was the only thing that she could think of. She had to get one of them in there after all to find out the truth. Cliodna went back to her room and left Arkytior to find out what she could about the situation.

Inside of Theta's room, Arkytior began to speak with Theta mentally. It would be the first time that she had ever entered his mind. She thought it might feel uncomfortable to her, but it seemed surprisingly natural. She felt like she belonged there. It didn't seem like a strange new experience at all to her. She was totally at ease inside of his mind as if she had been talking with him that way all of her life.

Hello! We can't really speak openly here, or the guards might hear us. I know this room is supposed to be soundproof, but who knows what could be heard right outside of it. Besides that, they may have bugged the room somehow before they brought you back in here. Arkytior thought as she opened the conversation.

What are you doing here? Do you have any idea how you're supposed to get back out without being caught again? Theta asked her in concern.

Not a clue. I just needed to get in here to talk to you. I need to know if any of your screwdrivers were stolen. Arkytior asked.

No. That's what I can't understand about this. They're all still here except the one that Borusa took. Theta responded.

Then why did you say that both screwdrivers were yours then? Arkytior asked in confusion.

I thought that they were. It certainly looked like my screwdriver. When I got back though, I noticed that they were all still here but one. I have no idea where the extra one came from. Theta replied.

This is just so weird. Who else but you even knows how to build one? Arkytior asked.

No one. I never told anyone how I built it. I only ever showed it to you, Cliodna, Eris, and your mother. Theta answered.

My mother? Arkytior asked.

Yes. I used it to scan you in your home when you went into shock a few days ago after seeing that supposed ghost. You don't think that she'd do this, do you? She never liked me. Theta asked as he explained what had occurred to her.

I know my mother would never do that. She could probably build it after seeing it only once, but she would never do that to me. She knows how it would hurt me. Arkytior reasoned.

I agree I guess. I couldn't see your mother doing anything to hurt you either. She'd gladly hurt me for sure but never you. Theta responded with a grin.

Stop that. Making jokes about my mother isn't helping us. Arkytior thought as she tried to suppress a smile of her own.

Maybe not you but it's certainly helping me to feel better at least for a little while. Theta replied.

It's time to get serious, Theta. How could that sonic screwdriver look so much like yours that it could fool even you, and how did it get in that office if all of yours are still here? Arkytior asked.

I have no idea. Unless . . . ? Theta thought and then stopped himself in mid response.

Unless what? Arkytior asked him.

It couldn't be so similar to mine unless it's somehow the same screwdriver from a different point in time. Somehow it's my screwdriver that's been removed from the future. Theta deduced.

That would require access to a TARDIS. No one could use one of them but one of the Instructors. Are you accusing one of them then? Arkytior asked.

What about your TARDIS? It's just sitting there in that museum, and anyone could use it. Theta asked.

"It's locked, and only I have the key to it. Arkytior answered.

Are you sure about that? Theta asked.

Yes. There was only ever one key made, and I keep it with me at all times. Arkytior answered.

There are master keys though that are kept by Chancellery Guards to be able to open any type of TARDISes. Theta thought.

Really? I've never heard of that. Arkytior responded in surprise.

Oh, yes. I heard a friend of mine talk about it once who wanted to be a guard someday. His name was Andred. Theta answered.

What if someone found the master key for your TARDIS and used it to go to the future and take one of my screwdrivers from my room from a time in the future when they knew that I wouldn't be in here. That would explain it all. Theta responded.

Everything except for who did it and why. Arkytior thought.

We'll find out soon. You have to get out of here somehow and see if your TARDIS has a record of having been used recently. That will be the evidence that I need to provide the others with some doubt that it was me who committed the crime. Maybe that will help to point the finger away from me. Theta told her.

I'll try to leave soon. Cliodna has promised to come back and provide another distraction in a few hours. I hope that she can pull it off again. She told me to be ready to leave then. Arkytior told him.

What are you going to do until then? Theta asked her curiously.

Maybe we could just sit here and talk to each other. Is that alright? Do you mind me being in your mind? Arkytior asked him hesitantly.

If I minded, I would have said so. You're always welcome in my mind. I like having you here. It feels natural somehow. I feel like you belong here in my thoughts with me. Theta responded and then his face reddened.

It's okay. I feel the exact same way. It just shows how close that we are as friends. Arkytior responded immediately to save him any embarrassment.

Yes, that's it. Theta responded a little too quickly.

There's no need to be embarrassed to have me in your mind. It's just me. That's why it feels so natural to you for me to be in your mind. It's because you've known me all your life. You know how I think and exactly who I am. Arkytior explained as she sat down on his bed and smiled at him.

Yeah, that's it. That's all it is. Theta lied.

Arkytior hoped that it might be something more as well, but she wasn't sure whether she should ask him if he felt the same way that she did or not as she was unsure just how exactly that he did feel about her.

The two of them then spent the next couple of hours talking more than they ever had in their lives as they could get more said mentally than they ever could with language. They conversed on every topic that they could think of from their families to school to friends to their plans for the future. Theta began to get worried when they got to talk about the future, and Arkytior reassured him that she would help him all that she could to keep his future prospects just as wide open as they had been before all of this had happened.

Sometime during all of that silent communication with each other the two of them had wound up sitting right next to each other, and Arkytior had wrapped her arms around Theta to comfort him. Neither of them seemed to notice this though or even care.

Arkytior finally noticed what time it was and realized that it was almost time for Cliodna to return. She opened the door just a crack and saw Cliodna there talking already. She just was a bit ahead of schedule.

As Cliodna distracted the guards with another fake faint, this time they caught on to her trick. One of them turned to see Arkytior outside of the room after having just left it.

"I'm afraid that that's not going to work, Lady Arkytior. You won't be able to get in there that way. It almost succeeded, but we're not quite that gullible. It was very smart though to attempt to use a fake faint just because the earlier one got us away from the door a minute. You deserve extra points for using even your earlier sickness to your advantage, Lady Cliodna," one of the guards said with admiration in his voice.

"I had to try," Cliodna said.

"He's a very lucky man to have two such good friends as you. I should charge you for attempting to break into the room, but I won't because I know that you were just worried about him and wanted to see him. Go, both of you, before I change my mind," the guard told them.

"Thank you," Cliodna said as she tried not to smile. She had gotten away with it!

The two of them quickly left, and Arkytior gestured for Cliodna to follow her. The two of them soon found themselves in the museum. It was past closing time so they were easily able to enter Arkytior's TARDIS without being seen.

Arkytior checked the TARDIS' logs and quickly found out that Theta had been right. It had been used by someone other than her to go a day into the future. She knew who now too. The TARDIS had recorded the bio data extract of its last user somehow even though it wasn't configured to do that. It seemed like this old TARDIS was always helping Arkytior out in unexpected ways like that when she least expected it. The last user of the TARDIS hadn't counted on anyone ever coming to check on the data of this old museum piece to find out what they had done. They were wrong.

"Now we have all that we need to prove Theta innocent," Arkytior said with a huge smile of relief on her face.

"Let's hope so," Cliodna said, still worried.

The two of them went to Borusa with what they had and their thoughts on it. He began to smile because he had never truly believed that Theta was guilty in the first place. He took the information to the other Instructors and soon the true burglar had been brought before them to face their stern gazes just as Theta had been earlier.

To no one's surprise, it was Eris.

"We have been presented with evidence that you illegally obtained and used the key of the Chancellery Guards to break into a decommissioned TARDIS. Then you used this TARDIS to take one of Theta Sigma's sonic devices from his room in the future to plant as evidence against him for a break-in that you committed in order to get him expelled from this Academy. How do you answer these charges?" Borusa asked Eris.

"I have been framed, sir," Eris said.

"Your bio data extract was recorded by the TARDIS in question as being its user," Borusa said.

"I'm sure that it has but I have been framed just as successfully as poor Theta was. Whoever this was that tried to get him expelled must have decided to cover their tracks by trying to implicate me as well if what they had done were ever discovered. I swear to you that I am innocent, sir. I would never hurt Theta," Eris said.

"That remains for your trial to decide. I am hereby ordering Theta released and for you to be suspended instead. If you are found guilty, then you will be expelled now instead of Theta. Take her to her room. Send word that Theta is to be released immediately," Borusa said.

When Theta was released, he ran to Arkytior and hugged her tightly. Cliodna began to smile. She wondered if this was it. Would they finally admit how they felt about each other?

She groaned as they suddenly released each other and began to act as if that hugely emotional display had never happened. She began to despair of the two of them ever letting each other know the truth. It didn't mean that she was going to quit trying though. Cliodna was going to get them together somehow if it took all of her lives.

Arkytior and Cliodna were both shocked when Eris was acquitted of all charges against her. Even though their proof was very good, it hadn't been enough to get Eris thrown out. She had managed to convince the instructors that she had been framed as well as Theta. Neither of the women believed it though. They both believed that she was guilty.

Theta himself didn't know what to believe. He didn't want to believe that Eris could do that to him, but he also knew that all of the evidence pointed to her. He never talked to her again afterwards.

When Eris was released from her trial, she was greeted in her room by Cliodna. Eris coolly walked in and faced Cliodna, unafraid of what she might do or say.

"What do you want?" Eris asked.

"I know that you did it. Nothing will ever convince me otherwise," Cliodna said.

"Well, the instructors disagree with you, and their opinions are what matters," Eris said.

"Maybe so but you want me on your side too believe me. If I get upset, there's no telling what might happen," Cliodna said.

"Are you threatening me?" Eris said with a huge grin.

"You'll know it when I'm threatening you, Eris," Cliodna said coldly.

"I will say this though. If you ever try to hurt Theta or Arkytior like that ever again, you won't get away with it as easily as you did this time," Cliodna promised.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was acquitted. I'm innocent," Eris said smugly.

Cliodna got right in her face then and said, "Your father has a high position in the scientific community, right? Did you ever wonder about what might happen if certain records were given to the High Council about alleged illegal experiments that he committed in the past on other planets in order to further his own highly questionable research. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"How?!" Eris asked in disbelief.

"Oh, I'm very well connected, Eris. I'll go the extra mile every time when it comes to protecting the people that I care about," Cliodna said.

"You won't get away with this. I'll remember this!" Eris promised.

Cliodna shoved her up hard against the wall then as she said, "I certainly hope so. I also want you to remember this. If you ever try anything like that again, you're going to find out just why it is that you don't want me as an enemy!"

Cliodna then composed herself as she said, "I don't want to have to resort to that though. I think we understand each other now, don't we? So there's no need for that now, right?"

Eris looked at her in fear now as she said, "Yes, There's no need at all."

"Good. I thought that we might understand each other if I explained it to you correctly," Cliodna said.

She turned to leave, but before she came up to the door she turned around and said, "Why did you do it? He rejected you so you have to ruin his life to make him pay? That's just stupid! He never loved you in the first place. Why would you want someone who doesn't love you? He loves her, and he's happy with her. Give it up already."

"He will love me! He just needs the proper motivation," Eris said.

"The proper motivation is getting him thrown out of the Academy and denied any kind of real life? Oh, yeah. That'll really make him love you. You're really twisted, do you know that?" Cliodna said.

"You don't know anything about it. You're not in love with him!" Eris shouted.

"If you really love someone, then you just want them to be happy whether they love you back or not. If someone else makes them happy, then that's all that matters or should matter. If you really love that person, that is and care anything about them at all," Cliodna said with emotion.

Eris looked at her with new eyes now as she exited the room. She didn't say anything further. Cliodna had gotten many points across to her today, and she had finally gotten the message. She would not bother Theta again while Cliodna was around.

Years later though, once both women were out of the picture all bets were off. It never did matter even then though. Eris chased after the Doctor relentlessly, but he never would give into her.

It seemed that Eris never did learn the real lesson that Cliodna had tried to teach her that day. It was something that even in the time of the Doctor's eleventh incarnation that the fallen Time Lady had yet to learn. It seemed that some people never learned from their mistakes no matter how much it cost them.

**Next: Arkytior and her friends travel to Victorian England where they meet H.G. Wells and run across the Daleks for the very first time.**


	5. Nemesis of the Daleks Part 1

CHAPTER 5

I do not own Doctor Who or the book or movie version of the Time Machine, and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**This chapter is set during Arkytior's time at the Time Lord Academy and is a week after the last chapter. **

NEMESIS OF THE DALEKS PART 1

Arkytior had been talking about it for weeks now, and the time had finally come for her to carry out her plan. She wanted to take Theta, Cliodna, Koschei, and even Selene with her on a trip in her TT Capsule. All of them had made good grades in all of their final exams for their classes for the end of this year, and she wanted to reward them for it. She had told them over and over again that she would do it, and now she was going to carry out her promise to them.

For so long now, Arkytior had been sneaking into the museum late at night that she had donated her TT Capsule to and going off in it by herself on trips here and there throughout time and space. Now for the first time, she was going to take all of her friends with her. She had decided to bring along Selene as well because she had come to like Cliodna's little sister a great deal, and she had started to think of her as a friend as well even if she was much younger than her.

Arkytior made off with the TT Capsule as she always had in the middle of the night. This time though she materialized it inside of her room where the others were waiting for her. As soon as all of her friends entered it, Arkytior quickly dematerialized and entered the Vortex before she could be accidentally discovered with it. She wouldn't get into any trouble about it since it was still technically hers, but she knew that the museum wouldn't like it one bit. She would rather not have to face the director of the museum and have to try to explain it to him.

"So, where should we go? Do any of you have any ideas?" Arkytior asked.

"Well, to be honest, I've always wanted to go see London during the Victorian Era on Earth. There's just so much history there. I would love it," Theta said eagerly.

"If we're going to Earth, I would like to go to some time in Scotland's past myself. That country and its history just fascinates me for some reason. I've even learned to talk with a Scottish accent," Cliodna said with excitement.

"Really? Let's hear it then," Arkytior said,

"Hello, my name is Amelia. Do you like it? I think it suits me," Cliodna said as she started to talk with her newly learned accent.

"That's wonderful. I'd think that you were a native," Arkytior said in surprise at how good she sounded.

"Yes, yes. She's mastered some primitive accent from a backwater world. I'm so impressed. I don't understand why either of you would want to go to Earth. There are so many better places out there to visit after all. How about Uxarieus?" Koschei asked.

"What's so great about that planet?" Arkytior asked.

"It's said that they invented a super weapon that they used to make stars go supernova. It's supposed to have created the Crab Nebula. I would love to see it in its heyday and watch it in action," Koschei said.

"That's pretty morbid, Koschei," Theta said.

"It is not. There's plenty of historical significance to it. It's fascinating. Can you imagine having a weapon with that much power? It could make you the master of the universe. Nothing and no one would be able to stop you," Koschei said with a huge smile on his face.

"Okay, you're kind of scaring me now, Koschei," Arkytior said as she saw the gleam in his eyes as he talked about it.

"There's nothing for you to worry about, Arkytior," Koschei said with a warm smile.

"Let's hope not," Cliodna said as she eyed her friend warily.

Arkytior, Theta, and Cliodna all shared a quick look with each other. They had all noticed that Koschei had this tendency to say slightly crazy things all of their lives, but it just seemed to be getting worse and worse lately. Arkytior constantly assured them though that she was certain that it was nothing but a way to get attention. Koschei had always been very kind to her after all. She had a hard time believing that he could ever hurt anyone no matter how crazy he sometimes sounded.

"What about you, Arkytior? Where do you want to go?" Theta asked her.

"I kind of like your idea," Arkytior said to Theta.

"What a surprise," Cliodna said as she rolled her eyes.

"I want a vote too," Selene said.

"Fine, where do you want to go then?" Cloidna said.

"I'm with Theta and Arkytior. Let's go to London," Selene said as she looked at Arkytior with a big grin. Selene wanted to side with Ari as a way of paying her back for letting her go on the trip with her.

"Traitor," Cliodna said but she smiled at her sister to let her know that she wasn't really angry at her.

"Well, I guess that's decided then. Three votes for Victorian London," Theta said happily.

"Fine, let's get this out of the way then. Let Theta go see his precious Earth, and then next time we go where I want to go," Koschei said.

"Wait a minute. Next time, we go to Scotland," Cliodna protested.

"Do you want to bet?" Koschei asked angrily.

"Yeah, I do. Next time, we're going to Scotland," Cliodna said in her Scottish accent as she gritted her teeth together in anger.

"We'll give it a vote next time just like we did this time. There's no need for this. We're all friends here," Arkytior said as she got in-between them.

Koschei and Cliodna both relented and calmed down. Theta smiled at that. He hadn't expected anything less to happen actually.

Arkytior had always had that effect on people. You could have two people about to completely kill each other, and all Arkytior would have to do was say a few words. Then they both would wind up shaking hands and apologizing to each other.

She was just a natural born peacemaker. Theta attributed it to no one wanting to let her down and make her disappointed in them. Everyone always wanted to please Arkytior and to have her like them for some reason. She just had a special kind of magic about her that enabled her to be able to do things like that.

The TT Capsule materialized on the side of a busy street as horse drawn carriages went speeding by it. As soon as the Time Lords left the Capsule, they were immediately confronted by a young man who said, "Are you time travelers?"

Arkytior hesitated to say anything as she was afraid of breaking the non-interference doctrine of the Time Lords. She had just wanted to come and have a nice visit to Earth. Why was nothing ever simple?

"I didn't mean to upset you, my dear. I would never tell your secret to anyone. I just wanted to know because I saw your strange craft suddenly materialize out of thin air. I've seen something just like that before. A ship that could travel through time and space and that was able to appear and disappear just like yours just did," the man said.

"You've seen a TT Capsule before?" Arkytior asked in amazement.

"Yes, I have I think. It wasn't referred to by that name though by its owner. He called it something else. I can't remember the name though. It was a very odd name, but I believe that it started with a T too. The man that owned the ship had the most colorful coat that I've ever seen in my life. It seemed to have every color in the rainbow in it," the man said.

Arkytior began to wonder if he might be a little mad. She had never heard of any Time Lord dressing in a coat like the one that he was describing. He did seem to know about the TT Capsules though without her saying a word about them.

"Why are we messing with this fool? Let's go and let Theta see his precious city already so that I can stop hearing about it," Koschei said impatiently.

"I assure you that I am no fool, sir. I do know about time travel because I have traveled inside of a time machine just like the one that you have come in. I have been to another planet as well. A place called Karfel," the man said.

"Who are you?" Theta asked him as his ears perked up at the name of the planet that the man had just mentioned.

He had heard of Karfel before, but he knew that there was no way that a human of this time period could have. They hadn't even been to their own moon yet.

"My name is Herbert George Wells," the man said.

Theta gasped in recognition at his name. He knew this man. He was one of the greatest writers of all time. Not just on Earth but throughout the universe. He actually wrote a book about traveling through time or at least he would. He didn't look old enough to have written it just yet.

He had always wondered if the man had ever met a Time Lord and gotten his inspiration for the book from one of his own people. He looked at Wells with a huge grin on his face as he realized now that apparently he had. What an amazing thing to finally find out!

Theta's smile would have been even bigger if he had realized that the Time Lord who had inspired H. G. Wells would be a future version of himself. He would not figure that out for several centuries to come, however.

"Do you know who this man is?" Theta asked a still annoyed looking Koschei.

"No, and I don't really care, either," Koschei responded with a sigh.

"I know who he is. I remember you telling me about him. He's a famous writer from Earth," Arkytior said.

From the look on Wells' face, Arkytior knew that she shouldn't say any more than that because apparently he wasn't all that famous just yet.

Wells must have seen her reaction and guessed what had caused it as he said, "Don't worry, my dear. I don't think that you've given too much about the future away as long as you don't say anything more. The other time traveler seemed to be concerned with not telling me too much about the future either. I suppose that I can see why because it might be altered with sufficient foreknowledge of what's to come whether the recipient of that knowledge meant to or not."

"Exactly, and telling others too much about their own future is strictly forbidden where I come from," Arkytior said.

"Then I shall never tell any of them that you were ever here if they ever pay a call upon me," Wells said with a smile.

"Thanks. I appreciate that. Let's just keep it that way. You never saw us here. We never existed," Arkytior agreed with a grin.

"Then I suppose this is good bye then. I'll let you go on about your business whatever it was," Wells said with a look of disappointment on his face.

"We were just here to visit this era that's all and nothing else. We just wanted to see this time in history for ourselves," Arkytior explained.

"Oh, I see. Tourists of an odd sort," Wells said with an amused expression on his face.

"You could say that yeah," Arkytior said.

"Perhaps before you go you might be interested in looking at my time machine then? I guarantee that it's a once in a lifetime chance to get in on the ground floor of something that will revolutionize humanity. Soon my people will join yours in their ability to travel through time!" Wells said with a proud look on his face.

Arkytior looked at him with a horrified look on her face as did her friends. This was not the reaction that Wells had been looking for in the slightest.

"I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that. My people look down on unauthorized time travel, especially by what they consider to be primitive cultures with no understanding of the higher concepts of time. No offense meant. I love humans myself," Arkytior said.

"I take no offense. I could never stay angry at someone as lovely as you anyway," Wells said with a flirtatious smile.

Theta began to grind his teeth together as he stepped in between the two of them while Arkytior blushed at what Wells had just said. Theta looked furious now as he said, "So where is this so called time machine of yours? I'm sure that you'd much rather talk about it than my friend here."

"Down, boy!" Cliodna said under her breath while Selene giggled.

"Could he be more obvious? Why can't she see it?" Selene whispered.

"You see it, and I see it. Even Koschei sees it, but they're both totally blind to it. They're both so terrified of losing the other one that they won't admit how they feel to each other. It's just so stupid and such a waste of time," Cliodna whispered back.

"Maybe they will someday," Selene whispered in a hopeful tone.

"Yeah, when they're both on their last incarnations maybe," Cliodna whispered with a sigh.

They began to follow Wells back home to see this time machine that he kept talking about. Theta made sure to stay in between him and Arkytior at all times from that point on as he continued the conversation with Wells himself.

Arkytior began to wonder what Theta's problem was. All he had done was comment on how pretty she was. It wasn't like he had kissed her or anything. Theta acted like she was his wife or something which was a pretty big change in behavior coming from a man who didn't even realize that he was on a date when she had asked him to go look at the stars with her a couple of weeks ago.

To be honest though, she hadn't wanted to hear how lovely she was from a stranger. She had wanted to hear it from Theta.

They all arrived at Wells' home, and he took them to a basement where they could see that he kept something hidden underneath a huge sheet. He pulled the sheet off to reveal a shiny silver chair with a huge spinning wheel behind it and various switches, levers, and flashing lights in front of it.

"It's amazing! Have you actually tried it yet?" Arkytior asked.

"Not yet, but I will soon. I was inspired to build it after my trip with the other time traveler. Seeing your machine appear today would seem like a sign if I believed in such things. Perhaps I should start. Maybe your presence here means that I will be successful. Soon I will change the destiny of mankind forever," Wells said.

"Wait a minute. Assuming that this over-glorified armchair actually does what you say it can do, how could such a primitive mind such as yours have possibly built it by yourself?" Koschei asked skeptically.

"Well, I have to admit that I didn't do it all by myself," Wells said.

"I knew it," Koschei said smugly.

"I had help from Professor von Wer and his two assistants. He provided valuable insights that helped me in its construction," Wells said.

"Professor Who?" Theta said in amusement.

"What?" Wells asked in confusion.

"Von Wer means Who in German. His name is Professor Who. That sounds pretty phony to me," Theta said.

"It sounds like something that you'd come up with as a fake name. It's exactly your sense of humor," Cliodna agreed.

"Whoever he is, he has helped me a great deal. I believe that he genuinely wants to help humanity to break through the barriers of time," Wells said.

A short man dressed in oversized check trousers, a plain white shirt, and a bow tie appeared before them and said in a thick German accent, "Yes, I wish to help the great Mr. Wells to achieve his dream of time travel. Soon he will go where no human being has gone before."

"Are you a Time Lord?" Arkytior bluntly asked the man.

She could sense that he was wearing some kind of perception filter that was making it impossible for her to sense whether he was human or not, and she bet to herself that he was using some kind of disguise as well. Certain parts of his face looked phony to her.

"A what? I'm not sure of what you mean," Professor von Wer said.

"Come on, you have to be a Time Lord! No human being could build this. It's fully functional," Theta said as he examined it.

"You mean it will work?" Wells asked with joy.

"Yeah it should. Everything seems right. I'm not sure just how safe from the Vortex you'll be in it though," Theta said.

"The Vortex?" Wells asked.

"Yes, that's what all time travelers must pass through in order to travel through time. Exposure to it can be extremely deadly without the proper protections from it," Theta said.

"Did you know about this, Professor?" Wells asked his friend.

"Of course I did. Don't worry. Everything that you might possibly encounter has been taken into consideration," the Professor said.

He began to stare at Arkytior then as if only truly seeing her for the first time. Arkytior began to wonder what it was with strange men staring at her today.

"Do you know me?" Arkytior finally asked as Theta began to almost growl in jealousy.

"I'm so sorry. It's just that you remind me so much of my wife. She's gone now but seeing you is just like getting a second chance to see her again," the Professor explained.

Theta was still not totally convinced by his story, but he had to admit that he was moved by the emotion in the man's voice. Arkytior was beyond moved. She was in tears as she put her arms around the man and hugged him tightly. Theta looked at her in a combination of pride in her for comforting the man and extreme jealousy that it wasn't him that was the recipient of that hug.

"I'm so sorry," Arkytior said to the Professor.

He reluctantly broke away from her as he whispered to her, "We'd better break this up, or your young man over there may become jealous."

"We're just friends," Arkytior said.

"Are you sure? Perhaps both of you are keeping things from one another that should be spoken of right away," the Professor said.

Arkytior stared at him in shock as she wondered how he knew what she felt for Theta. She began to wonder if he somehow knew how Theta felt as well. If he was right about her, then he might be right about him as well.

Before she could think any further about this, Wells' home was suddenly invaded by Daleks! They began to appear out of thin air everywhere around them.

"TIME MACHINE USING TIME LORD TECHNOLOGY DETECTED. ATTEMPTING TO VERIFY WHETHER IT BELONGS TO THE ARCH NEMESIS OF THE DALEKS OR NOT," one of the Daleks said.

"What are they?" Wells asked in fear.

"I've never seen them in person before but every Time Lord has heard of them. They're called the Daleks," Theta said.

"Daleks? They're aliens then like you?" Wells asked.

"No not exactly. Unlike my race, they exist only to destroy everyone in the universe who isn't a Dalek," Theta explained.

"You mean that they would wipe out mankind without a second thought?" Wells asked.

"They'd do it without a first thought actually. From what I've read about them, they have no concept of mercy whatsoever," Theta said.

The Daleks began to gather everyone into the middle of the room as they shouted, "DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FLEE, OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED. WE SEEK TO FIND AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS. YOU WILL IDENTIFY YOURSELVES SO THAT WE CAN SEE IF YOU ARE OUR GREATEST ENEMY."

Unseen by the Daleks, Professor von Wer had managed to reach the stairway of the basement and had made his way back up to his assistants to warn them of the Daleks' arrival. He found them both waiting for him at the top of the stairs as they had heard the familiar voices of the Daleks already.

"Doctor, is that who I think it is down below?" a young man with a Scottish accent wearing a kilt asked in concern.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is, Jamie. It's the Daleks. Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I never anticipated on them finding me here. I don't remember this happening when I was the other fellow," the Second Doctor, who had been disguised as Professor von Wer, said in disbelief.

"What are you talking about, Doctor?" Victoria Waterfield, the Doctor's other companion who usually wore a long Victorian era dress, asked.

"There's a younger version of myself down there right now at the mercy of the Daleks. If they find out that he is me, then I'll be killed here in the past; and this version of me will cease to exist as it's erased from history. If only I hadn't lost the TARDIS! This never would be happening right now if I hadn't had to come here and use Mr. Wells' resources to help build myself a new time machine so that I could go back to it," the Doctor said.

"That's all water under the bridge now, Doctor. We need to go down there and stop those Daleks from killing the past you and destroying our only way back to the TARDIS," Jamie McCrimmon said.

"I still don't understand how things could be different now than they were before if you've already been here to see this? Shouldn't things be the same now as they were then?" Victoria asked.

"No, Victoria. Time travel is not that simple I'm afraid. Time is always in flux because a time traveler such as the Daleks can always return to a certain point in the past and start changing established history so that all kinds of things can happen that didn't before," the Doctor explained.

"That's why we need to stop them from happening the first time. We have to save you from being erased after all, don't we?" Arkytior said as she came out of hiding from behind a corner.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Miss," the Doctor said as he put on his German accent again.

"Stop it, Theta. I know it's you. I just heard everything that you said. You created this mess so you can help me fix it before my Theta gets killed. Hop to it now, mister!" Arkytior said in a rare moment when she was experiencing no shyness whatsoever. Now that she knew that Theta's life was on the line all of her usual inhabitations had gone out the window.

"Doctor, who is she?" Victoria asked as Arkytior started back down the stairs motioning for them to follow.

"Aye, why does she think she can get away with giving you orders like that?" Jamie asked.

"That's probably because she was the real boss of me whether I knew it or not since we met one another as children, Jamie. Her name is Arkytior, and she will one day be my wife. Many years later, she will die at the hands of the Daleks; and that is when I will decide to start my journey through time and space," the Doctor said in a low voice so that only Jamie and Victoria could hear him.

Victoria and Jamie both looked in sadness at this woman who they knew would obviously come to mean so much to their friend but who in their own timeline was already dead. They wished that they could somehow warn her about what was to come, but they knew from the Doctor that they couldn't do that without causing a paradox that might potentially unravel time and space. They didn't know though that the Doctor had just unintentionally done that himself with his earlier comments to her.

Arkytior glared at him to follow her. She needed to save Theta now before it was too late. She just hoped that this version of Theta was able to think as fast on his feet as hers was and had already come up with a plan. She could certainly use one right now.

**Next: The conclusion to Nemesis of the Daleks as Arkytior has to help the Second Doctor save his younger self and their friends from being killed by the Daleks. **


	6. Nemesis of the Daleks Part 2

CHAPTER 6

I do not own Doctor Who or the book or movie version of the Time Machine, and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**This chapter is set during Arkytior's time at the Time Lord Academy and is a week after the events of Chapter 4. **

NEMESIS OF THE DALEKS PART 2

"IDENTIFY YOURSELVES. WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU?" the Daleks shouted over and over again.

"I am Cliodna of the House of Brightshore from Gallifrey. If you do anything in any way to harm any of us, you will be at war with the Time Lords. Do you really want that?" Cliodna threatened.

"WAR WITH THE TIME LORDS IS NOT ONLY INEVITABLE BUT DESIRABLE. THEY ARE A THREAT TO THE DALEK SUPREMACY OF THE UNIVERSE. THEY MUST BE DEALT WITH ONE DAY," one of the Daleks said who had a scanning device in place of its manipulator arm.

"I wouldn't advise trying it. Not if you want to continue to exist," Cloidna said with a solemn look on her face.

"ESTIMATED PROJECTION OF TIME LORD-DALEK WAR WOULD LEAD TO TIME LORD EXTINCTION INSTEAD," the Dalek with the scanner said.

The Dalek then scanned Cliodna and said, "SUBJECT IS NOT THE ONE THAT WE SEEK."

"SCAN THE OTHERS," the lead Dalek commanded the Dalek with the scanner.

The scanner Dalek then scanned Koschei next and said, "NEGATIVE. SUBJECT IS KNOWN TO US IN THE FUTURE HOWEVER."

"Lucky me! I wonder what I do to gain such a place of distinction with you," Koschei said sarcastically.

"WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE. EVEN THE DALEKS MUST BE CAREFUL OF CREATING A TEMPORAL PARADOX BY DISCUSSING THE FUTURE WITH OTHERS," the lead Dalek replied.

The scanner Dalek continued to scan the others. It scanned Selene and said, "SUBJECT UNKNOWN TO THE DALEKS. SHE IS NOT THE ENEMY."

"I'm glad of that," Selene said nervously as Cliodna put a protective arm around her to calm her down.

The scanner Dalek then scanned H. G. Wells and said, "SUBJECT IS HUMAN BUT HAS ARTRON ENERGY THROUGHOUT HIS BODY. HE IS KNOWN TO HAVE MET THE ENEMY IN THE PAST. SUGGEST RETAINING HIM FOR QUESTIONING."

"TAKE THE SUBJECT ASIDE FOR FURTHER QUESTIONING. WE MUST KNOW IF HE CAN LEAD US TO THE ENEMY," the lead Dalek ordered.

"WE OBEY," two of the Daleks said as they surrounded H. G. Wells and separated him from the others.

"What are you doing with him?" Theta protested.

"WE WILL QUESTION HIM. HE IS KNOWN TO HAVE MET THE ENEMY IN THE PAST," the lead Dalek answered.

The scanner Dalek then started to scan Theta. The Doctor, watching from the top of the stairs, knew that he had only moments before the scan would reveal his early self to the Daleks. He had to do something now before it was too late.

"I know the one whom you seek, Daleks. If you want to find him, then you need to talk to me," the Doctor said in his German accent.

The Daleks looked up in surprise to see the Doctor standing there next to Arkytior, Jamie, and Victoria. Luckily, the scanner Dalek was distracted by this as well and had not completed its scan of Theta. The Doctor had insisted that Arkytior go hide along with his companions, but she was having none of it and neither were they.

"YOU WILL COME TO US FOR SCANNING, OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" the lead Dalek ordered.

Arkytior came down first and the scanner Dalek scanned her first. Then it moved away from her in horror as it said, "DANGER! DANGER! WE ARE IN DANGER! SUBJECT COULD BE THE OTHER ENEMY."

"IS SHE THE OTHER ENEMY? REPORT!" the lead Dalek commanded.

"RESULTS INCONCLUSIVE! CANNOT CONFIRM. WE ARE IN POTENTIAL DANGER HOWEVER," the scanner Dalek said.

Arkytior had no idea what they were talking about unless . . .

Her eyes widened in horror as she wondered if the Daleks knew. Did they know about her powers? Were they about to tell the others?

She couldn't have that come out. Only Koschei knew the truth, and she wanted it to stay that way. No one else would understand. They would hate her maybe even fear her. She never wanted the others to know ever especially Theta. She would die inside if he ever hated her. She loved him too much to be able to stand such a reaction from him. It would kill her.

The Doctor sensed her distress but thought that the Daleks were the reason for it instead of her secret. He decided to play out a desperate gambit of his own in order to save everyone here.

"She is indeed the enemy, and she will destroy all of you if you do not immediately let us all go," the Doctor said as a bluff, not knowing that he was speaking the literal truth.

Arkytior looked at him in shock as she wondered if she would tell Theta in the future. Then she realized that even if she had, he would not blurt it out in front of his younger self this way. He would know better than that. He must be trying to fool the Daleks.

The Daleks looked at each other in confusion as the scanner Dalek shouted, "WE MUST RETREAT. WE CANNOT STAND AGAINST HER!"

"RESULTS ARE INCONCLUSIVE. THEY DO NOT MEAN THAT SHE IS THE ENEMY. DALEKS DO NOT EVER ADVISE RETREAT. YOU HAVE PROVEN UNWORTHY OF YOUR POSITION," the lead Dalek said as it tried to regain control of the situation.

The other Daleks surrounded the scanner Dalek as they waited for the order that they knew was sure to arrive soon.

"EXTERMINATE!" the lead Dalek ordered.

The other Daleks fired on the scanner Dalek simultaneously and immediately disintegrated it on the spot. Their only way to definitively identify the Doctor was now gone, and the Doctor now breathed out a sigh of relief.

They weren't out of trouble yet though. The Daleks would still keep harassing them until they found the Doctor or . . . until they found the person who created the machine. That was what first brought them here after all was the time machine using Time Lord technology. The Doctor suddenly had a crazy idea that he hoped would work. If it didn't, then they might be all doomed.

Using his German accent again, the Doctor said, "I think that it's time that you came clean with them, Mr. Wells. Tell them the truth that we invented the time machine ourselves using technology that was given to us by an alien from another planet. I know that you didn't want to get him in trouble for giving away the secrets of his people's technology to a human, but he can surely fend for himself. He's not here now, and we are. We are all in deadly danger thanks to what he gave you."

Wells had no idea what the Doctor was talking about at first, but then he quickly worked out what he was up to and played along. Wells said, "Yes, I'm afraid that this will get him in a lot of trouble, but it cannot be helped. We shouldn't die for his mistakes."

"COULD THEY BE TELLING THE TRUTH?" The lead Dalek asked one of his subordinates.

"THE ENEMY IS WELL KNOWN FOR HIS INTERFERENCE IN THE AFFAIRS OF OTHERS AND HIS LOVE OF THE HUMANS. HE HAS GIVEN SONIC TECHNOLOGY TO ONE OF HIS HUMAN FRIENDS IN THE PAST ACCORDING TO OUR RECORDS. HE MAY WELL BE CAPABLE OF DOING SUCH A THING," the subordinate Dalek replied.

"WE MUST BE CERTAIN OF THIS. USE THE MIND PROBE ON THE HUMANS," the lead Dalek said.

As H. G. Wells and the Doctor, who the Daleks had mistaken for a human due to his perception filter, were taken to the Dalek saucer waiting outside to be administered the mind probe, the Daleks surrounded Arkytior as they pointed their gun stalks at her warily.

"TESTS WERE INCONCLUSIVE AS TO WHETHER YOU ARE THE OTHER FOE OF THE DALEKS OR NOT. IN ORDER TO PROTECT OURSELVES HOWEVER, WE MUST ASSUME THAT YOU ARE A THREAT AND DEAL WITH YOU ACCORDINGLY. EXTERMINATE HER!" the lead Dalek ordered.

Arkytior closed her eyes and began to silently cry as she waited for the end. There was so much that she still wanted to say to Theta that would now never be said.

She found herself worrying more about Theta than she was about herself. She hoped that he would make it through this and find someone else to watch over and take care of him in her place. She just hoped that whoever she was that she would make him happy. She knew that her replacement wouldn't love him half as much as she did though. No one could.

She was surprised when she could feel the presence of someone else nearby her. She opened her eyes to see that it was Theta. He had gotten in front of her and was shielding her from the Daleks' guns with his body.

Theta stood defiantly in front of the Daleks as he shouted, "If you want to kill someone, kill me! She's innocent of any crimes. She's no enemy to you or anyone. Take me instead!"

"NO. SHE MUST BE EXTERMINATED TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT THE FUTURE OF THE DALEKS," the lead Dalek demanded.

"You'd better make sure that you kill me too then because if you kill her and I live, then I'll never stop hunting you down until I've wiped each and every one of you out throughout all of time and space! Do you hear me, Daleks? If you kill her, I'll exterminate you! " Theta screamed at them.

Anger radiated outward from Theta in waves now, and he suddenly seemed to be full of power. He had been transformed from the happy, jovial figure that Arkytior usually knew into this being filled with fire and fury. He seemed like a vengeful god come down from the heavens as he stood before the Daleks defiant and unafraid.

Arkytior knew then. She knew just how much that he really loved her for the first time. It was almost worth all of this just to know that for sure. She vowed to herself right then and there to tell him how she really felt about him if they made it through this together.

The Daleks actually moved back in fear from Theta. They were terrified of this man. He had no visible weapons and seemed to have no idea what he was doing, but he still shook them to their very core. His eyes told them the truth of his words, and they fully believed that he would carry out his promise to totally destroy them all if they hurt this woman no matter what he had to go through or what it would cost him. He would do it not in the name of vengeance but as a means of protecting others so that no one else would ever be harmed by them.

This was the moment that the Doctor was born. This was his creation in everything but name. It was this man who would go out one day in response to what he thought was the death of his wife and would forever change the universe in her name. He would make it a better place in order to honor her.

The Doctor had been brought out by them today as a response to their threatening to kill the woman that he loved. The Daleks now finally realized with mounting horror the full level of their mistake. This young man was the enemy who they had sought, and they had set him on the road to becoming their greatest foe here today. They had created him themselves by their actions here today!

"EXTERMINATE HIM NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! WE WILL WIPE HIM FROM THE FACE OF HISTORY! TODAY THE DALEKS WILL RESHAPE TIME ITSELF BY KILLING THEIR GREATEST NEMESIS!" the lead Dalek ordered.

Theta knew that he was going to die, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He'd rather die than stand by and do nothing when someone he loved was in danger. He began to smile to himself as he realized for the first time just how much that he loved Arkytior. He would rather die than see any harm come to her. He would gladly sacrifice himself for her without a second thought just to make sure that she was safe.

The Daleks prepared to fire on Theta when Jamie appeared out of nowhere wielding his dirk as he shouted, "Creag an tuirc!"

Jamie sent one of the Daleks flying back into another one by his surprise attack and was quickly joined by Victoria who used the element of surprise to her advantage as she grabbed Arkytior and took her with her to safety. Victoria and Arkytior went back up the stairs as Theta and Jamie took on the Daleks side by side now. They were now joined in the fight by Koschei, Cliodna, and Selene as the revolt against the Daleks began in earnest.

"Let me go! I have to go back down there and help him!" Arkytior protested as Victoria struggled to keep her from going back down the stairs.

"No, you have to stay here! As long as he's worried about you, he'll be too distracted to be able to stop them. Now that you're safe, nothing will hold him back," Victoria explained.

"You're crazy. He can't take on those monsters out there. They'll destroy him!" Arkytior shouted with worry.

"No. I've seen him stop them before. If anyone can stand up to them and survive, he can. Sometimes he plays the part of the helpless fool, but other times he's like a force of nature. He's like a storm in all its wonder when he has a cause to fight for. He's swift, relentless, and unstoppable," Victoria said as she looked down the stairs in awe.

"That's not my Theta. Maybe he's different in your time, but my Theta is the complete opposite of that," Arkytior said as she shook her head.

"That's because he doesn't have a need to fight. He still has everything that he wants. When he loses you though, all of that changes. He has something to fight for then and he goes out and changes the universe in your name. He goes out there to protect others so that no one else ever has to suffer like he did when he lost you," Victoria said.

"He was talking about me then. I didn't quite believe it before, but it's all true. I'm going to die young!" Arkytior said in tears.

"I'm sorry. I know that I shouldn't be telling you this, but I feel like I have to. Even if it means that history is changed; and I wind up never meeting the Doctor, it will be worth it if it means that somehow somewhere the Doctor will be happy. He isn't really you know. He puts on a good show of pretending to be happy, but I know that it's not true. Now I know why. It's because he lost you," Victoria said sadly.

"You didn't really tell me anything that I hadn't already figured out myself. He told me himself earlier when he told me that his wife had died, and then I realized that I could possibly be his future wife when I found out who he was. I still wasn't quite sure if it was me or not, but now I know," Arkytior said with a haunted look in her eyes.

"That's why you should make the most of our time together while you can, Arkytior," the Second Doctor said as he suddenly appeared next to her.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I thought that she should know," Victoria apologized.

"It's okay, Victoria. I think that you're merely carrying out your role in history whether you realize it or not. I always wondered why you were so sad and appeared to be keeping some great secret from me, Arkytior. Now I know. It's because you found out that we wouldn't get to spend all of our lives together here today. That part of this day hasn't changed apparently. The Daleks weren't here originally. They didn't really affect the outcome though. This was still the day that I found out how I really felt about you. It was still the day that I stood up to evil for the first time. Originally it was a gang of violent thieves that ambushed us outside of Mr. Wells' house, but the Daleks changed all of that by coming here like they did. This day was a fixed point in time though so even they couldn't change it completely. They just became a part of the Web of Time themselves as it unfolded as it was always meant to," the Doctor explained.

"How did you get free? They said that they were taking you and Mr. Wells to their mind probe," Arkytior asked.

"I'm an old hand at overcoming mind probes now. I gave it so much mental feedback that I caused it to overload, and it blew up. This gave me the chance that I needed to overcome the two Daleks that were administering the probe to us, and we escaped," the Doctor said with a huge grin on his face.

"I'm seeing such a different side of you here today. I used to think that if I wasn't around to watch you over you that you'd fall to pieces. I thought that you needed someone to take care of you. I was so wrong. You didn't need me at all. You can take care of yourself quite fine without me around," Arkytior said sadly.

"That wasn't what I needed you for. Without you around, I'm empty inside. I have no soul. It died when you did. I'm just a machine now, lifeless but still going through the motions as if I still lived," the Doctor admitted.

Arkytior looked utterly shocked as he said these things to her. She never knew that he felt that way.

"That's not true. He is still alive, and he does still have a heart. I've seen it in the way that he took me in after the Daleks killed my father. A machine wouldn't do that," Victoria protested.

"I do it because of her though. I do everything that I do because I know that it's what she would want me to do if she were still with me," the Doctor said.

"I don't want you to be sad. I don't want you to feel this way. I want you to be happy. Stop this! I want you to stop wallowing in self-pity and live, Theta Sigma! I mean it. If I ever catch you feeling this sorry for yourself again, I'll come back from the beyond and slap you! I promise you that. I'll know about it wherever I am, and I'll return," Arkytior said with a wide grin that covered her entire face.

She had no way of knowing just how prophetic these words would someday prove to be.

Arkytior could hear the last of the Daleks scream as they were destroyed in the fight down below. From the cheering and conversations that followed, it was clear to her that her friends had won.

Now long afterwards, Theta came up the stairs with a look of concern on his face; and she could see him visibly relax when he saw her standing there unharmed as all of the tension flowed out of him. He ran forward and hugged her tightly for several moments as he held onto her as if she were a life preserver. Then as if he realized just what he were doing and what he was revealing to her, he suddenly reassumed his old playful manner around her as he tried to act like today had never happened.

"I'm sorry to get all emotional like that. I'm just so glad that you're okay that's all. I don't know where I'd be without my best friend around after all," Theta said as he tried to cover for himself and to go back to their old relationship.

Arkytior couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that he still wasn't sure of how she felt about him even after all of this. She looked at the Doctor with a look of anger on her face, and he shrugged his shoulders at her as if to say that he couldn't help being so thick it was just a part of who he was.

Arkytior realized then that if she wanted to change things and make the most of the time that she would have with Theta that she would have to be the one to do it. She was going to too. She would wait until the right time, and then she would tell him how she really felt at last.

She knew that she wasn't going to wait much longer. She would do it very soon now. She was not going to waste one more moment than necessary because she had no idea how much longer that she would have left.

"Professor, if you wouldn't mind I think that I'll save you the trouble of using that machine that you helped Mr. Wells make. I'll gladly give you a ride back to your lost ship," Arkytior said to the Doctor.

"Thank you, my dear," the Doctor said as he started speaking in his German accent once more. He didn't want to reveal anything at all about his future to his past self after all. Arkytior helped him with this cover-up by continuing to refer to him as Professor von Wer.

"No problem, Professor," Arkytior said with a warm smile.

Theta shot her a questioning look for a moment as he wondered why she was being so friendly to this man. She almost laughed at the jealousy that was written all over his face. He was insanely jealous of himself! That was just like him too.

Before they left, the Time Lords destroyed all traces of the Daleks and their saucer so it could not be discovered by the humans of this time. Then it was with heavy hearts that Arkytior helped the others to destroy the time machine that the Doctor had been planning to use to get back to his ship. She had almost decided to let H. G. Wells keep it, but she knew that the damage to the timestream could potentially be great if they allowed him to use it to travel though time.

"Good bye, Mr. Wells. It was so nice to meet you. I guess it goes without saying that you should never tell anyone what happened here today," Arkytior said.

"I promise not a word of it will escape my lips," Wells said.

Arkytior and her friends left in their TT Capsule then along with the Doctor and his companions as they went to the coordinates that the Doctor had given them where his ship could be located.

When she asked him what had happened to separate him from it, the Doctor gave Arkytior a long drawn out story about how they had discovered a hole in time that they had stopped to investigate. They had gotten too close to it, and it had left them all trapped here in this time and place. That was when the Doctor had realized that he was about to meet Arkytior again soon and had adopted the guise of the Professor to hide himself.

After Arkytior dropped the Doctor and his companions off at the TARDIS, the Doctor finally used his sonic screwdriver to close the hole that had brought him to Victorian London in the first place when he was sure that Theta wasn't watching him. Arkytior gave him a long hug goodbye and kissed him on the cheek before leaving.

She then regretfully left him behind as she whispered, "Remember, I want you to live in my name not to fight in it. I want your life to be my true legacy not a bunch of pointless battles."

The Doctor nodded with a large smile on his face as he resolved to himself to try and do that. As he left in the TARDIS, Theta asked Arkytior in a tone full of jealousy, "Just why were you so familiar with him for? Was he someone that you knew?"

"Yes, he was. He was an old friend," Arkytior replied with an enigmatic smile.

"A friend? Is that all?" Theta asked suspiciously.

"That's all so far. Who can tell who he might be to me in the future? Why, Theta? What's your interest in who I am or am not friends with?" Arkytior asked pointedly as she tried to give him a chance to tell her exactly how he felt.

"I don't have any interest. I was just wondering that's all," Theta lied.

"Right," Arkytior said as she sighed in disappointment.

"Next time, we go to Scotland I bet," Cliodna said to Selene.

"How do you know that?" Selene asked.

"I'm going to propose using a coin to pick where we go next time. This coin and I'm calling heads first," Cliodna said as she briefly showed Selene a two-headed coin before putting it back in her pocket.

"You're just pure evil," Selene said as she lightly giggled at her sister's deviousness.

"I know. It's helped me to get far though being this clever. You didn't think that I merely skated through life on my looks, did you?" Cliodna asked with a mischievous grin in her new Scottish accent.

"Not really, no. I knew that it had to be something more than that," Selene said as she flashed her sister an evil grin of her own.

"Why you little . . . !" Cliodna said as she playfully pretended to try and hit Selene on the shoulder.

Arkytior smiled at their antics at the same time as Koschei groaned. She hoped that she could look forward to several more trips like this one in the future. She wasn't dead yet, and she wasn't going to stop living just because she knew that she wouldn't have as much time as most people would. She was only going to use that as an excuse to live even more if she could help it.

She was telling Theta soon, and she meant that. Soon Theta Sigma would know exactly how she felt about him. She no longer had the time or the desire to wait.

H. G. Wells smiled to himself after they had all left. He would keep his promise and not say a word about what he had seen here today, but he would write about it. He would use today and his previous adventure on Karfel to create so many stories. He would tell people the truth about just how strange and bizarre the world really was through the guise of fiction as he would write stories about time travel and alien attacks from other worlds among so many other wondrous things.

As for the time machine, he was afraid that the time travelers hadn't stopped him there either. He had made careful notes in secret of everything that he saw the Professor do, and he was absolutely certain that he could recreate the time machine by himself now. He laughed as he thought about all of the places that he would see and all of the worlds that he might someday travel to. Someday he would take his place alongside the other time travelers as he traveled to the stars!

**Next: If you want to know the full story of what happened next between Arkytior and Theta, read The Adventures of Rose Tyler, Time Lady Chapters 43 and 44 to see Arkytior finally tell the Doctor that she loves him and vice versa and the events that led up to it. Then come back here next time to see a recap of the moment that Arkytior finally tells him how she feels and the aftermath of it. How will Arkytior and Theta's lives be different now that they've finally admitted to each other how they really feel?**


	7. The Three Most Important Words

CHAPTER 7

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS

Theta sat in his room and didn't move or make a sound. He had been just sitting on his bed for several hours now lost in a sea of regret and sorrow. He had been like this ever since his last attempt to take the TT Capsule driving test had failed spectacularly.

He had been trying to take the test and pass it several times now, and each time he had failed in a new and ever more disastrous way. This last time though had been the worst one of them all.

He had landed his TT Capsule correctly after having performed all of the goals in the exam perfectly up until that point. He had truly thought at that moment that he had finally passed it at last. He was so wrong though. He had made one crucial mistake at the end. He couldn't get the brakes to come on. Without the brakes on, the TT Capsule just kept moving forward once it had landed and crashed into the other test Capsules destroying them all including his!

He knew that it was all over with now. There were no more Capsules left to do the test in, and he was sure after that last failure that none of the instructors would have enough courage to give it to him even if there were. Every one of his past driving instructors had taken a sudden early retirement and so had several others to avoid having to take the test with him themselves. It had gotten to the point where instructors were running in terror from him when they would pass him in the hall so that he couldn't ask them to give him the test next.

He had given up at last. He knew now that he was going to get thrown out of the Academy. No one could stay there without passing the driving test after all. He would probably never see Arkytior again, and it was breaking both of his hearts. The thought of never getting to travel in time and space was bad enough, but the thought of never getting to be with the woman that he loved had almost killed him.

He had just ceased functioning from that moment on. He hadn't eaten, slept, talked, or done anything else that entire day. All he had done was to sit there and think about what a world without Arkytior in it would be like. The thought of that was so repulsive and hurtful to him that it had just completely sucked the life out of him, and it had caused him to go into a horrible downward spiral of despair that he was afraid that he would never come out of.

Arkytior knew something was wrong from the start that day. She could sense it. When she had gone for an entire day without hearing one word from Theta, then she was sure of it.

She went into his room by using the key that he had given to her for emergencies and found him sitting there looking more upset than she had ever seen him. She knew that he had given up trying to pass the test and had already resigned himself to having to leave the Academy, and she wasn't about to let him get away with it. There was no way that she was losing him now.

She had already decided to tell him how she really felt about him after having accidentally found out recently that she was going to die young. Now as she saw him sitting there with his head in his hands in despair, she made a split second decision that this was finally the time to tell him at last. She knew that this would be her last chance. If she didn't do it right here and now, then he would leave, and she might never see him again.

She would not allow that to happen. Theta Sigma was hers, and there was no way that she was letting it all end here like this.

Steeling her resolve to go through with this, she eased into the conversation first by saying to him, "Don't give up, Theta. You'll pass it. You just need to study setting the brakes a little more."

Theta looked at her in utter despair as he said, "I'm not going to try it any more. I give up! I can't take it again anyway. I destroyed all of the test Capsules! There's nothing left to pass the test with now, and I don't think that anyone would be my instructor anyway. I see instructors walking briskly away from me in terror now in the hallway. I think they're afraid I'll ask them to give me the test next."

Arkytior decided to play what she thought would be her trump card as she said, "You can't give up. If you do, I'll never see you again."

Surely now he would see what he would be throwing away by just giving up and quitting like this. This had to make him want to come out of this quicksand of despair that he was currently suffocating in. If he didn't, then it would just kept pulling him down inside of it further and further until the person that she knew was gone forever.

Theta completely shocked her as he said, "It's better that way. I'm a miserable failure! I'll never amount to anything. You'll be so much better off without me. You'll find someone who deserves to have a friend like you. I'm just a helpless, miserable worthless . . ."

Arkytior could not believe her ears. The more that he talked, the angrier she became until finally she interrupted his torrent of self-pity by erupting into an angry rage that stopped him in mid-sentence.

"SHUT. UP! I won't hear you say one more word against yourself, Theta Sigma! You are the most wonderful man I've ever met. You're the smartest man on this whole miserable planet! You've always been there for me whenever I've had a problem and always helped make me feel better when I was upset or sad. You're not going to say anything more about how worthless you are! Do you hear me? I won't stand for it. You know why? It's because I love you! I love you with all of my hearts, you stupid, stupid oblivious brain dead man! How can you not have known how I feel? I've been practically throwing myself at you!" She screamed at him as every ounce of emotion that she had ever felt for him came gushing out of her at once.

She then stood there in silence hoping against hope that this would be what would bring him back out of his depression and finally make him realize just how much he meant to her all at the same time. She had finally laid it all for him now and gone for broke at last.

The rest of her life was on the line now, and it all depended on what he would say to her in the next moment. She had never been so worried about something in her life, and she knew that if he didn't say something soon that both of her hearts just might explode right out of her chest as the tension inside of her continued to rise to almost unbearable levels!

She let out a breath that she hadn't even realized that she had been holding as Theta smiled at her with more joy on his face than she had ever seen there before. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She began to smile as she realized that she had done it. He was going to be okay now. They were both going to be okay now.

Then her hearts almost stopped as Theta gave her a passionate kiss. She almost melted into his arms at the power and intensity of the emotion that he poured into it. She had never felt anything like that before, and she knew instantly that she wanted more. Their first kiss lasted for a very long time as neither of them wanted it to end. They were both finally declaring their love for each other at last, and it had been a long time coming after all.

Finally, Theta reluctantly pulled away from the kiss because he had something that he needed to tell her. It was something that he knew that he should have told her a long time ago.

"I love you too. I was just too afraid to say it. I am stupid! I'm so sorry. I . . . ," Theta confessed at last.

He was broken off in mid-sentence yet again by Arkytior as she said, "Shut up!"

She didn't want him to say it with words. She wanted him to continue showing her how he felt.

She kissed him this time in order to give him that message, and he quickly grasped what she wanted this time. She had never been as thankful for something as she was in that moment that for once his natural thickness had deserted him.

They kissed without stopping the rest of the night. This day that had started out as the worst day in Theta's life had turned into the best day of it instead.

That was just like Arkytior though. She always took everything negative in his life away and replaced it with something good. That was just who she was. That was one of the reasons that he had always loved her since the day that he had met her.

Theta passed the driving test the next time that he took it without any problems at all whatsoever. Arkytior had loaned him her old Type 40 TT Capsule that she had donated to the museum to take the test on since there were no others left.

Theta realized then that the reason that he had been failing was because he had been so worried about losing Arkytior if he were thrown out of the Academy. Once he realized that he wasn't going to lose her no matter what happened then all of the pressure was suddenly off of him, and he was able to pass the test with ease.

From that moment on, Theta and Arkytior were both changed forever. They were suddenly both happy and full of joy at every moment which was a great change for the usually sad and remote Arkytior. She still had the fear of Theta finding out about her powers lurking in the back of her mind, but that had receded for the moment amid the euphoria of their new relationship with each other.

They both expressed their feelings for each other openly and honestly at last, especially in public. They would now openly give each other a peck on the lips when the fancy struck them, and they didn't care who saw them or what they said about it.

Cliodna was filled with happiness for them every time that she saw them now. She couldn't be happier if she were with him herself.

She had also noticed that Arkytior was becoming a different person now ever since they had declared their feelings for each other. She was no longer as shy and timid as she had been before. She was finally coming out of her shell and becoming more confident and assertive.

She had also caught Ari giving Theta orders lately or actually telling him to shut up. At first, Theta had seemed to her to be shocked by this sudden change in Arkytior's behavior, but then Cliodna noticed that he had started to smile at it when Ari wasn't looking. He actually seemed to like it.

Cliodna took Arkytior aside one day shortly after she had first noticed all of this and said, "Hello, stranger. Are you still calling yourself Arkytior these days, or have you changed your name along with the rest of you?"

"What are you talking about?" Arkytior asked.

"You've changed your behavior, your attitude, and even your appearance in the last few days ever since you and Theta finally got together. I like all of the pink that you've been wearing, by the way. It's so you," Cliodna said with a huge smile.

"I guess I have. I just suddenly feel like I'm finally getting to be myself for the first time in my life. Theta's bringing out the real me at last. It's like I don't have to be afraid of anything anymore as long as he's with me," Arkytior said.

Cliodna looked at her oddly then as she asked, "What have you got to be afraid of?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Arkytior said just a little bit too quickly for Cliodna to believe her.

"You know that you can tell me anything, right?" Cliodna asked her in concern.

"Yeah, of course," Arkytior said in a short, clipped tone as she suddenly seemed to start reverting to her old personality right in front of Cliodna's eyes once again.

"I'm sorry if I said anything to upset you, Ari. I didn't mean to," Cliodna said with sadness.

Arkytior suddenly perked up again and resumed her new persona once more as she said, "It's fine, Cliodna. Don't worry about it."

Arkytior then shocked Cliodna by suddenly putting her arms around her and hugging her tightly. This was a huge surprise because she almost never displayed her emotions that freely. Most of the time, Arkytior kept everything she thought or felt hidden from everyone after all. Then again, this was the new Arkytior, wasn't it?

"You're my best friend, Cliodna. I love you like a sister. I'm not sure if I've ever told you that before. I just wanted you to know how I always felt about you," Arkytior said in answer to the questioning look on Cliodna's face.

"I feel the same way about you, Ari. I'm so glad for you because I've never seen you this happy before. I have to say that I think that all of this has really been good for you," Cliodna said as she returned Arkytior's hug.

It was finally a new day for Arkytior, and she actually had the hope now that maybe she wouldn't have to live in dread of her powers anymore. They hadn't emerged even once now since she had become so happy and content with herself and her life after all.

Surely as long as she was with Theta, she wouldn't ever have cause to be unhappy again. Therefore, she should never need to fear an involuntary appearance by her powers anymore since they only seemed to be triggered by extreme negative emotions.

She would soon discover just how wrong that she was, and it would all be brought about by the most unlikely of sources.

**Next: Arkytior and Theta had been having a wonderful start to their relationship until a mysterious woman appeared out of nowhere and changed all of that. Who is this strange girl that seems to have caught Theta's eye against his will? Arkytior is burning with jealousy as she attempts to find out as much as she can about this strange human who can travel through time and space named . . . Rose Tyler!**


	8. The Nature of the Universe

CHAPTER 8

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**For Rose this story takes place right before Journey's End. **

THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE

To celebrate their new relationship together, Arkytior and Theta decided to take Arkytior's old TT Capsule from the museum and take a trip to Earth. They attached a Randomizer device to the coordinates to randomly pick a time and place on Earth for them so that they would be surprised. They wound up in London in 2008.

"This isn't much of a surprise. We've already been to London. Of course, neither of us were ever here in the 21st century so I guess it's not too bad," Arkytior said as she read the coordinates in disappointment.

"I like it. It should be fun," Theta said happily.

"Are you sure? We could always go somewhere else if you want," Arkytior offered.

"I don't care where I go. I could be in the Stone Age or at the end of time itself. It doesn't matter to me where or when I am as long as you're there with me," Theta said.

The two of them kissed passionately for a moment, and then Theta finally said, "Well, let's see where we are."

They emerged out of the Capsule to see the Millennium Wheel looming in front of them. They looked at it together in awe for a few minutes as they held hands.

"I guess that old place holds special meaning for you too. For me, it was where I had an experience that changed my life," a woman said from behind them with a faraway tone in her voice.

They both turned to see a beautiful blonde woman smiling at them. Theta seemed to be spellbound by her for a moment, and Arkytior immediately started to become worried as she saw his reaction. Theta immediately jerked his gaze away from her and back to Arkytior with a look of apology in his eyes. He didn't know why he had stared at her like that. It had just seemed to him for a moment that she was someone familiar to him. It was almost as if he knew her.

"My name's Jackie," the blonde woman said. Rose Tyler had long ago learned not to use her real name in order to avoid any kind of potential temporal backlash or other problems within the causal nexus.

Arkytior was instantly jealous of her now even though part of her had trusted her instinctively from the moment that she had met her. She glared at Rose while Theta struggled not to look at her again and make things worse.

Rose realized that something was wrong and said, "I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll go now."

Theta couldn't believe that he was doing this, but he had to talk to her more. He lightly touched her arm to prevent her from leaving and said, "Before you go, I have to know something."

"What?" Rose asked him in confusion. She had no idea what he wanted or why they were both acting so strangely.

"Do I know you? You seem so familiar to me somehow as though I've met you before," Theta said as he searched her face for clues.

"No, mate. I'm sure that I would have remembered you. You should stop this. You're making your girlfriend upset, and I'm not interested. I already have someone. Someone who I desperately want to get back to," Rose whispered to him as she started to leave again.

"It's not like that. I'm not hitting on you. I just want to know who you are. There seems to be something important about you. It's like I should know you. I can't explain it. I just feel like I need to help you. You said that you were trying to find someone? Maybe I could help," Theta offered.

Arkytior looked at him in bewilderment now. She could see that he was being honest now when he said that he wasn't hitting on her so what was this all about? Theta was acting weird even for him, and she could see now that this woman seemed to just want to get away from him. She wasn't interested in him at all.

"Theta, just leave her alone, and let her go on about her business. She doesn't want your help," Arkytior said.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you? You just seem so lost. You have the saddest look in your eyes," Theta said to Rose.

Rose began to warm up to him then as she could see that he genuinely wanted to help her. She smiled at him, and Arkytior felt like she wanted to rip her eyes out at that moment.

"I'm sure that it's nothing that you could help me with. It's all very complicated and technical stuff. I'm trying to use this jury rigged technology to bring myself back together with this wonderful man. He showed me the stars and opened up my eyes to all of the beauty out there that I never even knew existed. It wasn't just that though. I would have loved him anyway even if he couldn't have done that. He's the kindest person I've ever known. All he ever does is help others without ever asking for anything in return. All I want to do is to get back to him, and I can't. I keep trying and trying, but I can't find him. He's always just out of reach. I don't know if I'll ever get back to him or not," Rose said in despair.

"Why don't you just wait here, and maybe he'll find you," Arkytior suggested.

"I can't. Who knows if he'll ever come here again? He could be anywhere in time and space," Rose said.

"What are you using? Maybe I could modify it in some way so that you can reach him quicker. It looks like some kind of dimensional teleportation device. You know that you're breaking a hole in the walls of the universe every time that you use this. It could be very dangerous if you use it too much," Theta said in concern.

"You sound just like him. That's another reason why I'm having so much trouble finding him. I have to wait until the hole that I made before can seal itself before I use it again. I don't want to make the walls between realities come tumbling down believe me," Rose assured him.

"You said that he could be anywhere in time and space. How does he travel? Does he use one of these too?" Theta asked.

"No, he has a time machine that can go anywhere in time and space. It's much superior to this thing," Rose said.

"It's like comparing a sports car to a space hopper," Theta said laughing.

Rose looked at him with wide eyes for a moment. She began to expect that she had found the Doctor after all just not the version of him that she wanted.

"Who are you?" Rose asked. She knew that the Doctor was nine hundred years old and that he had regenerated several times before she met him so this could be an earlier version of him.

"My name's Theta. Theta Sigma and this is my girlfriend Arkytior," Theta said as he looked at Arkytior proudly. It was the first time that he had ever called her that in public. It felt so right.

Arkytior began to relax as she saw that he was proud of his relationship with her and was openly admitting it to this new woman. She now finally believed that his interest in Jackie was not a threat to her. She wondered if he even knew himself what it was that was drawing him to her. He didn't seem to. He just seemed to have an insatiable need to help her find the man that she was looking for.

"Arkytior," Rose said in almost a whisper.

She had heard that name somewhere before. It was clawing at the back of her mind like it was struggling to get out. Then she finally realized where she knew it from.

The Doctor had said it once when he had been asleep and having a horrible nightmare. He was screaming and crying and just kept calling out that one word over and over again. She had to wake him and held him while he broke down in her arms.

She had told him that everything was going to be alright now, and he had looked at her strangely for a moment as if he didn't know her. It seemed as if he was seeing her as someone else for a moment. Then he shook his head and smiled in his usual way as he told her that it was just a bad dream.

She had asked him later what that word meant, and he said that it was someone that he had known a long time ago. He never said anything else. Now she knew the truth. Arkytior had been his wife, and she was now looking right at her.

She realized in horror that Theta was the Doctor only not the one that she wanted. He was much too early in his timeline. He wouldn't know her for hundreds of years yet. She had missed him again.

The look of recognition on Rose's face told Arkytior what she wanted to know. This was her replacement in the future. Jackie was the woman who Theta would fall in love with in the future after she was gone. She could feel that somehow. That was why Theta felt such an instant connection to her. Sometimes a Time Lord would have a reaction like that upon meeting a person who they didn't know yet who would become very important to their future. It was a part of their time sense.

She had to make sure that Jackie didn't give up her search. She never wanted Theta to be alone or unhappy. If this was the woman who would keep him going when she wasn't there for him anymore, then she wanted her to find him. Jackie had to find him again. Arkytior was not going to have him wandering through time and space miserable for the rest of his lives. It was not going to happen if she could help it.

"Theta, why don't you take a look at Jackie's device and see if you could improve it without wrecking it? You can do that, can't you?" Arkytior asked.

Theta got the hint that she wanted to be alone with her and did what she asked. He hoped that she wasn't going to make Jackie upset. He didn't ever want to see her upset. He felt very protective of her already, and he had no idea why. He loved Arkytior, but he also felt an undeniable connection with Jackie. It made him feel guilty as if he had done something wrong. He knew that he would never act on it though. He would never hurt his Ari.

As soon as Theta left, Rose said, "Listen, I'm not interested in Theta if that's what you're thinking. He's not the one I'm trying to find."

"He is though, isn't he? Just not this version of him," Arkytior said.

"How did you know that?" Rose asked amazed.

"I saw your reaction when he said his name. You recognized him," Arkytior said.

"I recognized your name actually. He said it once," Rose admitted.

"He still remembers me then?" Arkytior asked with relief.

"You know that you won't be around in his future, don't you?" Rose asked.

"Yes, I found out recently by accident," Arkytior said.

"He never forgets you. He was having a nightmare where he was crying and upset about you. I comforted him though. He was alright," Rose said.

Arkytior began to tear up. He still remembered her, but he was in pain because of losing her. She never wanted that. She never wanted to cause him pain.

"Thank you for being there for him. Thank you so much!" Arkytior said as she hugged Rose.

"I would still be there with him except that I was trapped in another universe. I've finally gotten back to this universe, but I still can't find him. I'm afraid that I'm never going to find him. I need to though and not just for me. I don't want him to be alone. He should never be alone. I've seen what he's like when he's alone, and it's not good believe me," Rose said.

"I don't want him to be alone either, Jackie. He must never be alone. That's why you have to promise me that you'll find him. Promise me that you'll never give up until you get back to him, Jackie. Just keep going no matter what happens until you're together again. I need you to take care of him. I need to know that, Jackie. I'll rest easier when my time comes knowing that he's got you around to look after him," Arkytior pleaded with her.

Rose nodded. She knew that Arkytior was right. She couldn't give up no matter how long it took. She was doing this for more than just herself and the Doctor now. She was also doing this for Arkytior. She couldn't let her down. She had made a promise to her to take care of him now, and that was what she was going to do.

"I'll get back to him, and I'll make sure that he's never alone again. I promise," Rose said.

"Thank you!" Arkytior said in a voice filled with peace.

Theta returned then and handed the Dimension Cannon back to Rose as he said, "Here. I think that it should work a little better now. I've tweaked it a little. It should be more precise now and get you to places a lot quicker with less time having to recharge it. Is everything alright here?"

"Yes, it's fine. Thank you for your help. I have to go now. I'm off to try again. I hope that this time it will finally work," Rose said with a renewed look of determination on her face thanks to Arkytior.

"Good luck, Jackie," Arkytior said.

Theta looked between them and smiled. He didn't know what had happened, but he was glad that the two of them were on better terms than when he had left. He was so glad that Arkytior had gotten over her jealousy. She never had any reason to be jealous of anyone else. He would always stay loyal to her no matter what. Even if the worse were to ever happen and he were to lose her, he knew deep in his soul that he would never love anyone else as much as he loved her. Never.

The rest of Theta and Arkytior's day was uneventful and they enjoyed it. It seemed to Theta as if Arkytior was even happier than usual somehow. She just seemed so peaceful. He didn't know why, but he knew that it had something to do with Jackie. Whoever Jackie had been, he owed her a great debt. Anyone who helped Arkytior to be this happy would always have his eternal gratitude.

After Theta and Arkytior went back home, Rose finally found the Doctor. Things didn't exactly go as planned however. She wound up trapped on Pete's World yet again, but she still wasn't giving up. Somehow in some way she was going to get back to him. She was going to be with him forever just like she had promised both him and Arkytior. She owed it to both of them, and she owed it to herself.

Years later after Rose had opened the fob watch and rediscovered who she really was, she laughed with joy as she remembered the day that she had been inspired to keep going when she had almost given up by a woman that she now realized was herself. It was in that moment that she found out that the universe not only had a sense of humor but that sometimes just sometimes it brought you exactly to where you needed to be. It just took it awhile to get you there.

Come to think of it the universe was a lot like the Doctor. That thought comforted her somehow.

**Next: Arkytior and Theta come up against the first obstacle to their relationship. Arkytior's mother. Will her objection make Arkytior revert back to her old personality once again and undo all of the progress that she has made?**


	9. inspired by the Wolf

CHAPTER 9

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

INSPIRED BY THE WOLF

Arkytior heard the sounds of screaming for several nights in a row. They were so loud that she couldn't possibly understand how no one else heard them, and yet no one seemed to because no one but her every seemed to be awakened by them.

Every night she would follow the sounds as she tried to find their source, and every night she could find nothing. She would search throughout the Capitol and as far outside of it as she dared to venture by herself to no avail.

After almost a week of being kept awake by the screams, she began to wonder if she was going insane. A worse thought began to occur to her as well. She began to fear that her powers were returning despite having shown no signs of being active since she began dating Theta.

She wanted to tell Theta about what she had been hearing, but she was afraid that if she did that he might guess the truth about her. He was so intelligent that if she even just told him that she was able to hear things that no one else could that he would probably put two and two together in no time. She wanted to believe that he would understand if she told him about herself, but she couldn't take that chance. It was better to hide her true nature for the rest of her life than to risk losing him forever.

On the seventh night of hearing the screams, she finally found their origin. Just outside of the Capitol, she suddenly found a time fissure. She had been by this spot every night for a week and had never seen it so it must have just been created. She realized now that she had felt the time fissure coming into existence a week before it had even been created. The screams had come from the future.

She was only just now beginning to understand the full extent of her powers. She really didn't want to understand them though. She just wanted them to go away.

Arkytior slowly walked up to the fissure and felt compelled to put her hand into it. She didn't know how, but she suddenly knew that there was something in there that she needed to find. It had been why she had been brought here. Something in this fissure had been calling to her every night to free it. She searched around the inside of the fissure blindly for a moment as she felt for whatever it was that had called her here.

She could now feel an intense heat coming from inside of the fissure as if she were close to open flames. She began to wonder to herself exactly what kind of nightmarish time and place that it led to.

She screamed in surprise and fear as she felt another hand grasp hers. She started to jerk her hand free from the fissure and run back to the Capitol when she heard a scared voice say, "Please help me whoever you are. Don't let me die!"

Arkytior couldn't leave anyone to die if she could prevent it so she ignored her fears and began to pull the person inside the fissure to safety. She used every ounce of strength that she possessed as she fought against the powerful forces within the fissure that sought to keep her from freeing whoever had been trapped inside of it. Finally she succeeded in yanking the person inside free, and they both fell to the ground panting from exhaustion.

Arkytior could see that it was a young blonde woman in her 20s with very sad, haunted eyes. Arkytior noticed right away that she was harboring an intense feeling of guilt that had wrapped itself around her like a shawl. Arkytior could feel that about her instantly because her emotions were coming off of her in waves.

"Thank you so much. I was about to die at any minute. The flames were coming closer and closer," the woman said gratefully.

"You don't seem too surprised to have a time fissure suddenly open up next to you. You also seem to be adjusting very quickly to suddenly finding yourself pulled through it into another time and place. I can tell that you're human, and yet you don't act anything like any of the humans that I've ever met. Most humans would be upset and totally confused if what just happened to you had occurred to them. Who are you?" Arkytior asked.

"I know more about time than you might think. I'm not the brightest person, but I've been shown a lot about the nature of the universe. I've seen so much and been so far. I've been too far. I've seen the end of everything and the futility of it all," the woman said as she looked at Arkytior with those haunted eyes of hers again.

"I don't know where you've been or what you've seen, but you shouldn't give up because of it whatever it is. You need to find something to believe in and a cause to fight for. If you feel that your life has no meaning, then you give it a meaning. Just don't ever stop. At least that's my motto anyway. I never give up, and I don't think that you should either. I was led to you for some reason in order to save you. There must have been a reason for that. Maybe your life must have more value than you think," Arkytior said.

"It was just an accident. That crack in time was caused by mistake. A man that I used to know taught me about things like that. Fissures can be caused by traumatic events like the one that I was involved in," the woman said.

"What kind of event was that? What exactly did I just pull you out of? What's your name by the way?" Arkytior asked curiously.

"I'd rather not tell you about any of that. I'll just say that the place that I was in was on fire and burning down. I would have died if not for you. Thank you again for that. As to my name, I'm . . . Edith. Edith Cole," the woman said.

Arkytior had a feeling that was not her real name, but she decided to go with it for now as she said, "It's nice to meet you Edith. I'm afraid that you're in a bad fix here though. You're on the planet Gallifrey, and humans aren't allowed here. They're executed if they're caught."

"Gallifrey?" Edith asked as she looked at Arkytior warily.

She looked as if she were afraid that she would be turned in at any minute. Arkytior knew that she would have to quickly set her straight on that idea.

"Don't worry, Edith. I'd never turn you in. I like humans, and I think that law is wrong. I had a human friend before who almost died because of it. Luckily I was able to save him, and I'm going to save you now too," Arkytior said.

"I'm on Gallifrey," Edith said as if she were suddenly realizing something.

"Yes. You've heard of it before then?" Arkytior asked as she tried to drag some information out of her.

"The man that I told you about before mentioned it once. He never said too much about it or his people though," Edith said.

"You've traveled with a Time Lord then?" Arkytior asked with sudden interest. She wondered if this might be the same Time Lord who H. G. Wells had mentioned meeting before, the one with the strange coat.

"Yes, I did. I thought that he was such a great man at first. He seemed to care so much about me at first. He took me with him as he traveled through time and space and showed me the universe. I was his faithful companion," Edith said.

"What happened? You said that you thought that he was a great man at first," Arkytior asked.

"I found out that he was nothing like I thought that he was. He eventually left me behind and forgot about me once he was done with me. I'd rather not talk about it," Edith said as she looked away from Arkytior.

"Just because he was a jerk doesn't mean that all Time Lords are. I'd like to think that I'm not anyway. Don't let him ruin your life any more than it sounds like he already has, Edith. You need to move on and forget about him. I'm going to get you off of Gallifrey and take you back home. I want you to promise me that when you get there that you'll make a real future for yourself. Will you?" Arkytior asked.

"I will. For the record, I don't think that you're a jerk. Of course, that could be because you just saved my life. I tend to be influenced by things like that," Edith said as she smiled for the first time since Arkytior had met her.

"There's something that you need to do more, Edith. Smile. You have a nice smile. You should use it more often. You need to find a reason to put that smile back on your face. Or better yet, find someone who'll put it there for you," Arkytior said with a smile of her own as she thought of Theta.

Edith started to feel at ease around Arkytior for the first time. She felt as if she was in the presence of an old friend now as she started to trust her.

"Before I take you into the Capitol, I'll have to make sure that no one can detect that you're a human. Luckily for you, Edith, I came up with a way of fooling the Time Lords about things like that after my friend from Earth almost died. I set about inventing a ring that can give off fake life signs that should confuse even the best of Time Lord technology I hope. It should make you appear to be a Time Lord to anyone who doesn't inspect you too closely," Arkytior said happily.

Arkytior held out her hand, and the ring appeared in it out of the pocket dimension that she sometimes used to store things in when she wasn't using them. Edith looked at her in surprise as she hadn't known that Time Lords could so such a thing. Her particular Time Lord had never showed her that ability although he had shown her plenty of other ones in their time together.

"I never thought that I'd have a use for this. I only created it in case I ever came across a human who I might want to bring home with me on my visits to Earth. I've always wanted a human as a friend. The one that I told you about had to leave quickly so I didn't really get a chance to get to know him as well as I would have liked," Arkytior admitted as she slipped the ring on one of Edith's fingers.

Arkytior smiled to herself as she realized that the ring worked. She now couldn't sense in any way that Edith was human and would have been totally fooled into believing that she was one of her people if she hadn't known better. She knew that Edith wouldn't stand up to closer inspection, but for the purposes of getting her undetected into the Capitol the ring would do perfectly.

"Come on. Follow me. If anyone asks who you are, your name is Cassiopeia. You're my distant cousin, got it?" Arkytior explained.

"Why that name?" Edith asked her.

"I just like it. I thought I might use it someday if I ever have any children," Arkytior said wistfully.

The two women walked back into the Capitol and managed to fool everyone including the guards, who never even gave Edith a second look. Arkytior had finally made it back to her room at the Academy when she found Koschei waiting there at the door for her.

Any other time she'd be more than happy to see Koschei but not this time. It had been Koschei who had almost gotten the last human that she had come across on Gallifrey killed after all. She certainly didn't want a repeat of that incident. She could only hope that the ring would fool him too.

Koschei began to smile as soon as he saw Edith and said, "Hello. What's your name?"

Arkytior tried not to laugh as she realized that Koschei liked Edith. He would have a fit if he knew that he was flirting with one of those humans that he hated so much.

"I'm Cassiopeia, Arkytior's cousin from far away. Very far away," Edith said as she tried to hide her nervousness.

"You never mentioned having a cousin before, Ari. That was inconsiderate of you. She's quite a beauty," Koschei said as he continued to smile at Edith relentlessly.

Edith began to shudder under his intense gaze. Arkytior could tell that Koschei was making her uncomfortable and immediately started trying to think of a good excuse to get her away from him.

"She's just here visiting for a few minutes. She'll have to go soon though. We really don't have time to stay and chat, Koschei. Maybe you can see her some other time though," Arkytior said.

"I would like that. I would like that very much. I guess I can't talk to you for too long then, Ari. I'll just get this out of the way quickly then. I came here because I wanted to warn you about something," Koschei said as he suddenly turned serious and focused all of his attention on Arkytior now.

"About what?" Arkytior asked as she felt a sense of sudden foreboding.

"Your mother found out about you and Theta, and she's on the warpath about it. She's been trying to find you to try and talk you out of dating him. She even asked me where you are, and you know how she can't stand me. That shows you how desperate that she is to find you. That's why I came here to give you an advanced warning of what to expect from her when she finally catches up to you. I'm sorry, Ari. I know that you don't want to hear this, but I didn't want you to walk into your next conversation with her unprepared," Koschei said gently.

Edith stared at him with surprise. He had seemed so cold and manipulating before with her when he was trying to seduce her but with Arkytior he was gentle and compassionate. It was so strange to see such a sudden change in personality like that. He reminded her of someone who she had known before who seemed so much like him that they could be brothers.

"Thank you, Koschei. I'm glad that you told me. I'm not going to let her get away with ruining my relationship with Theta after I've finally gotten it started up. I'll see you later. I've got to take Cassiopeia home in a little bit, or I'd talk to you longer," Arkytior said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"I hope that it goes alright for you, Ari. As for you, Cassiopeia, I really want to see you later. I hope that we can become great friends or maybe even something more," Koschei said as he gave her his best smile.

"Yes, maybe I'll see you in the future," Edith called back to him as Koschei left.

Arkytior led Edith into her room while she silently fumed in anger. Edith could tell that Arkytior was very upset and trying to hide it from her. She wasn't being very successful at it even though she kept trying to give her an occasional smile to reassure her.

"I'm sorry. I hope that it all works out for you," Edith said with sincerity.

"It's okay. I'll be fine," Arkytior said with that same fake smile that she had started using since Koschei had given her the bad news.

"When are you going to try to take me home?" Edith asked.

"We'll go in just a few minutes. I'm going to dress you up more like a Time Lord first so that there aren't any awkward questions in case we get stopped. I'm going to have to break into the museum in order to use my TT Capsule to take you home. I know that sounds weird. It's a long story though that I don't have time to tell. I'm used to breaking in there alone but not with someone else. I hope that doesn't throw me off any. Just in case it does though, the less suspicion attached to you the better, Edith," Arkytior said as she got together some of her old Academy clothes for Edith to wear.

"Thank you so much for helping me, Arkytior. I really appreciate it," Edith said warmly.

"I was led to you for a reason. I was meant to help you. I think that it's because you're going to do something very important someday. Maybe you're going to help a lot of people or maybe even save someone's life. I don't know what it is, but I know that you're meant to do something. I have to believe that," Arkytior said.

"Why? From what I've seen, there is no meaning to things," Edith said and then regretted it as soon as she said it after she saw the angry look that Arkytior gave her.

"There has to be. Why else would I be cursed like I am unless there was some greater reason for it? Maybe I'm meant to help people like you. That has to be the truth. It has to be," Arkytior said in despair.

Edith had no idea what Arkytior was talking about, but she gave her a short hug in an attempt to comfort her anyway. She said in a soothing tone to the obviously upset Arkytior, "I'm sure that you're right. I don't know what I'm talking about. Don't listen to me."

Arkytior smiled at her and nodded as she gave her an Academy outfit to wear. As soon as Edith changed, they snuck off to break into the museum. Luckily, the two of them were not caught and made it to the Capsule successfully.

As soon as they were inside of it, Arkytior asked, "Where should I drop you off at?"

Edith thought for a moment and then said, "My family's home in the year 2013. They probably think that I'm dead. I hope that I can explain what happened. I'm not sure that I understand it completely myself. I'm not really that bright like I said. I'll just have to come up with something believable. I have no idea what though."

Edith gave Arkytior the exact address for her family's home, and Arkytior set the coordinates accordingly. She soon brought Edith home, and Edith walked out the doors of the Capsule with joy on her face as she saw her family's house. She never thought that she would see it again.

"You can keep the clothes and the ring, Edith. Maybe you can wear them to a Halloween party or something," Arkytior joked.

"You know about Halloween?" Edith asked in surprise.

"Oh, yeah. I know a lot about humans. I like Halloween. I dressed up as the Big Bad Wolf once for Halloween," Arkytior admitted.

Edith tried to hide her surprise as she recognized that name. She knew who Arkytior was now. Her Time Lord had talked about her once before and had called her by that name. He thought that she was lost however. Maybe Arkytior was right. Maybe she had been found by her for a reason.

"Good bye, Arkytior. I hope that I see you again. Thank you so much. I will do something with my life, and I'll do it in your honor," Edith said.

"There's no need to involve me in it. Just go forward and live your life the best that you can, and that'll be good enough for me. Good bye, Edith," Arkytior said as she hugged her.

"It's not Edith. I'm sorry for lying, but I didn't know who you were yet. I've gotten used to not being able to trust people, but I trust you completely now. My name is Lucy. Lucy Saxon. Don't mention that to anyone else though. I learned from the Time Lord that I knew just how dangerous too much knowledge of the future could be," Lucy said.

"I won't tell anyone about you, Lucy. In fact, I'll wipe your true name from my memories once I leave here and just think of you as Edith if that'll make you feel better. It's probably for the best anyway," Arkytior said.

"I just wanted to be honest with you after you've done so much to help me. Thank you, Arkytior. I'll always remember how the Bad Wolf wasn't so bad after all. I hope that everything will turn out alright for you in the end. Good bye," Lucy said as she hugged Arkytior back.

Arkytior left then as she smiled one last time at her. As she dematerialized her TARDIS, she silently hoped that everything turned out alright for Lucy as well. Then she erased her true name from her mind but kept all of her other memories of her. She hoped that she would meet her again someday and that her sadness would be gone once she did. She also hoped that whatever she did with her life that she made it a good one.

Lucy Saxon started toward her family's home as she already started to come up with some story to tell them in her mind in order to explain where she had been all of this time. She had deliberately chosen a date far in the future so that no one, especially Harry if he had survived, would be looking for her.

She would tell her family as much of the truth as she thought that they would believe and then embellish the rest. Then she would take Arkytior's idea and run with it as she would reestablish herself as her own cousin. She would call herself Edith Cole just as she had on Gallifrey.

With her new life, she would use her family's money to help people. She would help whoever was in trouble and needed it the most. She would prove Arkytior right. She already had a new idea for a charitable organization. She would call it Bad Wolf, Inc.

She smiled as she thought of that name. It seemed very appropriate to her somehow. She hoped that wherever Arkytior was that she was smiling too.

Unfortunately, Arkytior was not smiling. She was so worked up over her mother's objection to Theta that as soon as she came back to Gallifrey, she had started to feel very sick. She lay down on her bed as soon as she came back to her room and tried to calm herself down.

It was unsuccessful though. She could feel her powers starting to return and looked down in shock to see her hands glowing with golden energy. Her extreme emotions had reawakened her powers, and she began to breathe deeply in a futile attempt to control them.

"No. Please no. Not now. I was finally happy. Not now!" Arkytior said as she shook all over with terror.

She heard a knock on the door, and Theta entered looking at her in concern as he said, "Ari, what is it? I heard you shout something. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Arkytior said as she hid her hands behind her back and refused to look at him.

"Ari, what is it?" Theta asked as he immediately saw that she was starting to revert back to her old persona where she would barely speak and kept everything to herself.

"Nothing. I'm fine. Everything's fine," Arkytior lied.

Theta came over to her and embraced her tightly as he kissed her. He was relieved when she kissed him back. Whatever it was that was bothering her, she was at least still responding to that. He said nothing else as he held her the rest of the night to let her know that he was there for her if she wanted to talk about it.

Arkytior breathed out a sigh of relief as the glow in her hands faded. It had started to fade as soon as Theta had kissed her and helped to ease her mental turmoil for a while.

She was going to confront her mother about him soon. She was not going to let her take him away from her, and furthermore she was not going to make her revert back to the timid, frightened creature that she was before either. She was never going back to being that person ever again.

She would be with Theta no matter what even if she had to leave the Capitol and the Academy behind forever to do it.

**Next: The showdown occurs between Arkytior and her mother as she takes a stand against Persephone at last. **


	10. A Life Altering Decision

CHAPTER 10

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

A LIFE ALTERING DECISION

Arkytior headed toward her mother's house ready for a confrontation with her about Theta. She truly didn't want to fight with her, but she also didn't want to lose Theta either. She was afraid that she was going to lose her forever over this, but she had to take a stand against her. If she didn't, then she would lose her one true shot at happiness forever. Theta was the only one who she wanted to be with for the rest of her lives. There was no one else, and there never would be.

As she finally stood outside of the house, she hesitated. She stood there trying to gather her courage as she prepared for what would probably be the most important conversation of her life.

At that moment, a friend of Theta's named Cydonia appeared and stopped in front of her. Cydonia wasn't a part of the Deca, but Theta seemed to like her a great deal. He was always talking to her and considered her a good friend. She had never associated with Arkytior that much in the past, but she had always been nice to her.

"Cydonia, what are you doing here?" Arkytior asked.

"I just came to give you some encouragement, Arkytior. You may not believe this, but you're doing the right thing. Just try not to be too hard on your mum, huh? I think that she just wants to keep you with her because she doesn't want to be alone," Cydonia said.

"I get that. I really do but she's just going to wind up being alone anyway if she keeps driving me away by rejecting Theta," Arkytior said.

"You may end up estranged from each other for a while, but I think that it'll be alright in the end," Cydonia said.

"I hope so. I love her, but I don't want her to run the rest of my life for me," Arkytior said.

Cydonia started to laugh for a second, and then stopped as she realized what she was doing.

"I'm glad that you think that my pain is so funny," Arkytior said coldly.

"No! No! I wasn't making fun of you. It's just that you remind me so much of someone else that I once knew. She was always complaining about her mother trying to run her life too," Cydonia said.

"What happened to her?" Arkytior asked curiously.

"Her mother finally realized what she was doing when she confronted her and told her how she felt about it. Then she left her alone and let her live her own life from then on. Her mother had been done that way herself after all and knew how it felt. I'm afraid that you mother won't be quite so understanding though," Cydonia said.

"How do you know that?" Arkytior asked.

"Just call it a hunch," Cydonia said.

"Why do I get the feeling that you know something that I don't?" Arkytior asked.

"I don't know anything, Ari. I'm just very smart and intuitive. I possess a special insight into how people think. That's one of my two special talents," Cydonia said with a grin.

"What's the other one?" Arkytior asked.

"I make a mean soufflé. I learned straight from an old human cookbook," Cydonia said with a giggle.

"I've had your soufflé before. It's nothing to brag about," Arkytior said with a smile on her face. Cydonia was making her feel better about what was to come. She was helping to calm her down.

"Don't you dare say that! I'll have you know that my soufflé is prized throughout Gallifrey," Cydonia said as she continued to laugh.

"You're impossible," Arkytior said.

"So I've been told," Cydonia said with a knowing smile on her face.

"Why did you come here?" Arkytior asked.

"I wanted to make you feel better about what's ahead. That and I wanted to give you some advice," Cydonia said.

"What's that?" Arkytior asked.

"No matter what she says to you do not let her break the two of you up. You belong with Theta, and you'll never be happy without him. Do whatever you have to do, but stay with him somehow. If Theta's not in your life, there will be no one to keep the wolf away from your door," Cydonia warned.

Arkytior began to wonder if she knew about her powers, and she became afraid.

"What do you mean by that?" Arkytior asked nervously.

"It's a figure of speech that's all. You're really uptight about this whole thing with your mum, aren't you? Just calm down, Ari. It's not going to be easy, but in the end it'll all turn out alright. I'm sure of that," Cydonia said.

"Thanks," Arkytior said as she calmed down.

Cydonia looked very sad then, and Arkytior's hearts went out to her.

"What's wrong?" Arkytior asked.

"I wish that someone could tell me that everything would be alright. It's hard to explain, but sometimes I feel like this life is not my own. It feels wrong somehow. I feel so lost like I don't even know where I am," Cydonia said with despair.

"You will go home again someday. You will be rescued," Arkytior suddenly said in a voice that was not her own as her eyes glowed with golden energy.

"Rose?" Cydonia asked with renewed hope.

Arkytior's eyes returned to normal, and she was herself again as she said, "Rose? Why did you call me that for?"

"That would be your name on Earth in the English language," Cydonia said thinking quickly.

"Really? I like that name. Maybe I could use it sometime," Arkytior said with a smile.

"I hope I haven't done something wrong," Cydonia said to herself with a worried look on her face.

"What could you have done wrong by telling me that? I think that Rose is a beautiful name. I may just start going by it when I go to Earth from now on," Arkytior said.

"Maybe you should save it for a special occasion instead," Cydonia said nervously.

"I guess you're right," Arkytior agreed as Cydonia breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I should be leaving now before I do any more potential damage. Just remember what I said, and stay with him," Cydonia said as she turned to leave.

"Cydonia, why do you care? I barely know you," Arkytior asked her.

"Theta's my friend. I just want the best for him, and that's you," Cydonia said with a warm smile.

"Thank you," Arkytior said as Cydonia left.

She wasn't quite sure what had just happened or exactly how Cydonia had known that she was coming here, but she was thankful to her for it anyway. She had made her feel better about what she had to do, and she had convinced her beyond a doubt that what she was planning on doing next in the event that her mother didn't back down was the right thing.

Arkytior gathered her courage, and then went inside of her mother's house. Persephone was already waiting for her at the door. She had seen her outside with Cydonia apparently.

"Who was she?" Persephone asked.

"She's a friend of Theta's. Maybe she could be a friend of mine too someday," Arkytior said thoughtfully.

"She reminds me of someone that I used to know when you were born. She's too young to be the same person though," Persephone said.

"I don't want to talk about Cydonia. I want to get to the point. Koschei told me that you were looking for me," Arkytior said.

"Yes, I've heard that you've started dating Theta Sigma. I want that to stop. I was alright with him being your friend, but I will not let you ruin your life this way. You can do so much better than him. He's wild, reckless, and undisciplined. He's completely wrong for you in every way," Persephone said.

"If he's so wrong, why does he make me feel safe whenever I'm with him? Why does just being around him feel so right then? Why is it that the thought of being without him for the rest of my life makes me terrified if he's not right for me?" Arkytior asked.

"I can understand why you like him, but you have to understand that he's never going to have a regular normal life. He's not going to be dependable and stable like the other men out there. His head is always in the clouds and full of dreams. He's never going to settle down and have a real life. It's just not in him," Persephone said.

"I know. That's one of the reasons that I love him. I don't want normal. I never did. Normal is boring. I want a life where I never know what's going to happen next. I don't want to be stuck in the Capitol forever, Mum. I want to see what's out there just like he does," Arkytior said.

"I just wanted you to have a future. How can you be sure of ever having anything with a man like that who only wants to travel the stars with no real plan or goal for his life?" Persephone asked.

"I don't pretend to know what will happen in the future. All that I know is that he and I want the same things. We both want to enjoy our lives and not waste them stuck here in the emptiness of this cold, sterile world," Arkytior said passionately.

"You think this now, but you'll change your mind someday. You'll want something real and solid to cling to when you're older, and he'll never give it to you. He'll never be able to stay in one place for too long or have a regular job," Persephone said.

"I don't care," Arkytior said.

"You'll never do anything with your life but spend it traveling through time and space going from one place to another. That's if he even manages to get a TARDIS of his own. I don't see how that he can since he doesn't have one. Besides, do you really think that the other Time Lords will allow him to do that? You have to be realistic here, Arkytior," Persephone said.

"I don't care what I have to do or where I have to go. As long as I'm with him, I'll be happy," Arkytior said defiantly.

"If you stay with him, you're no longer welcome here anymore. You can expect no more help from me," Persephone threatened.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Arkytior asked in tears.

"I don't want you to throw your life away on a silly dream that can never happen. Please see sense, Arkytior," Persephone said.

"Okay, maybe we can just settle down and have an ordinary life with the occasional trip to Earth," Arkytior said as she tried to extend an olive branch to her mother.

"I'll believe that when I see it. Your life's never going to be ordinary with a man like that. He's aimless and directionless in life. You can and you will do better," Persephone said.

"No! We'll make it somehow I know that we will. I can't let you ruin my life, Mother. No matter how much I love and respect you I can't let you turn me back into that scared, terrified person that I was before anymore. That's what I'll become without Theta around. Don't you understand that? I'll never get to live that way for sure," Arkytior said.

"Arkytior, please listen to me," Persephone said as she began to get upset now too.

"No. I won't listen any longer. I didn't want to do this, but there's no other way, is there? I'm getting married. Theta and I are going to be married soon, and there's nothing that you can do about it. I'm an adult now, and I'm old enough to get married without your permission," Arkytior said.

"What?!" Persephone screamed.

"I said that I'm getting married, and there's nothing that you can do about it," Arkytior said triumphantly.

Persephone's face was suddenly filled with sadness, and Arkytior felt so guilty. She didn't want things to go like this. She didn't want to break her mother's hearts.

"You could come to the wedding if you want. I want you to be there," Arkytior said in a softer tone.

"You're not getting married, Arkytior. I have many connections on this world, and I promise you that I'll use them. No one in the Capitol will marry you and Theta. I'll see to that," Persephone promised.

Arkytior began to break down in tears, and she couldn't speak. She wasn't going to let her win. She'd find another way. She would not be beaten by this. Not by a longshot!

She turned without speaking because she wasn't able to anymore since she was so emotionally distraught. She silently walked out of her mother's home without another word.

"I'm sorry, Arkytior. It's for your own good. I hope someday that you'll see that," Persephone said after she heard the front door slam.

She couldn't admit to herself the real reason that she didn't want Arkytior to stay with Theta. Cydonia had been right. The real reason that she didn't want Arkytior to get married was because she was afraid of losing her and being alone again just as she had been for millennia before.

She had been alone for so long that she would do anything not to have that happen to her again. She had let her fears overwhelm her, and now she had wound up just insuring that what she had most feared was actually going to happen. The two of them were going to wind up separated from each other now, and it would be a long time before they would talk again.

Arkytior immediately made her way to Theta's room and used her key to suddenly enter without announcing herself. She found Theta there asleep on his bed and woke him up as she said in a loud voice, "Theta, you have connections among the Outsiders, right?"

"What? Ari? What are you doing here? You know this is when I have my afternoon nap between classes," Theta said in bewilderment.

"This is more important than your nap, Theta. Do you know of anyone who can perform a wedding among the Outsiders or not?" Arkytior demanded.

"Yeah. I know someone who could do it, and it would be legal even in the Capitol. Why? Do you know someone who's getting married?" Theta asked as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Yes. You! Get up and get dressed, Theta. We're going to see this friend of yours, and we're getting married as soon as possible. Even Mum has no pull among the Outsiders. There's no way that she can stop us now," Arkytior said as she closed Theta's door behind her and waited for him outside in the hall.

Theta was suddenly wide awake now as he sprang up in bed and shouted, "What?!"

**Next: Arkytior and Theta elope and make Persephone furious. They also make someone else very mad. Calliope is now on the warpath and she doesn't blame Arkytior and Theta. She blames Persephone. The Lily and Elizabeth feud begins here.**


	11. The Beginning of a Feud to Last the Ages

CHAPTER 11

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

THE BEGINNING OF A FEUD TO LAST THE AGES

As soon as they left the Capitol, Theta started trying to make sure that this was what Arkytior really wanted. He wanted to marry her someday of course, but this seemed to be a little too soon to him. He didn't want their relationship to go to the next level just out of her need to get back at her mother.

"Ari, are you really sure about this?" Theta asked.

"Yes, I am. I can't lose you. It would ruin my life forever," Arkytior said.

"Don't you think that you're being a bit premature? Just because your mother objects to me doesn't mean that you have to do something like this?" Theta asked.

"I really want to do it, Theta. This isn't just to spite my mother. What she did finally made me realize just how much that you mean to me," Arkytior said.

"Are you sure? Really sure?" Theta asked.

"Oh, yes. I've waited long enough to stake my claim to you, Theta Sigma. You're mine whether you like it or not," Arkytior said happily.

"I never said that I didn't like it. I just wanted you to be sure so that you wouldn't do something that you might regret later," Theta said.

"I appreciate that, Theta, but I'm not doing this on impulse. My mother finally gave me the courage to do what I've wanted to do for some time now. This is what I want, Theta. I want to be with you forever," Arkytior said.

"I want that too. I could never love anyone else. It's always been you from the day that we met," Theta said.

"Do you really mean that you've planned to marry me from the day we met as children?" Arkytior asked amused.

"Well, I wouldn't say marriage. My thoughts at that time were just to make you my best friend forever. It's kind of the same thing in a way I guess," Theta said with a sly grin.

"Oh, we're so much more than best friends, Theta," Arkytior said.

"I know that. We have been for a long time despite neither of us being able to admit that to each other until recently. I'm just saying that my thoughts even back then were similar in a way to what they are now," Theta said.

"I have something to confess about that day myself, Theta," Arkytior said.

"What's that?" Theta asked.

"I really did plan on marrying you from that day forward," Arkytior said with a wicked grin.

"You really plan for the long term, don't you?" Theta said with a chuckle.

"Like I said before, you're mine whether you like it or not," Arkytior said.

"Oh, I like it. I definitely like it," Theta said.

Both of them then paused for a moment in their walk into the wild lands to share a passionate kiss together. This was the day when forever began, and the promise was never really broken even far into the future despite their being separated for nine hundred years. It never would be. They would be together until the universe itself died and beyond.

Arkytior always kept her promises. No matter how long it took her.

That was far, far into the future though. Neither of them had any idea of what truly lay ahead of them despite what Arkytior thought that she knew about her future. Neither of them would have changed a thing, not one moment, of this day even if they had known what was to come. It would come to be one of the happiest days of their lives. For a long time, it would be the happiest day period until the day that Rose Tyler opened her fob watch and the Doctor fully understood at last just what he had almost lost. That day won by a landslide.

As Theta and Arkytior walked into the future together hand in hand, others weren't so sure if what they were planning on doing was such a good idea. Word spread like wildfire throughout the Capitol about their plans almost as soon as they had left. People heard them talking about it after all while they were leaving. Neither of them had made any attempt to hide it.

When Cliodna heard the news, she smiled from ear to ear as she said to herself, "Finally! I never thought I'd live long enough to see this. I thought for sure that I'd run out of regenerations first."

She was glad that it was Arkytior that finally married him. If it was going to be anyone besides herself to wind up with Theta, she was glad that it was Ari. He had never seen her as anything more than a friend anyway. She had always known that.

Cydonia smiled to herself with a conspiratorial grin when she heard the news as she whispered to herself, "Good for you, Doctor. Good for you. I'm glad that it finally happened for you. For a while there, I wasn't sure if it ever would. You're just as thick now as you are in the future."

Koschei frowned when he heard the news as he thought that Arkytior could do so much better than Theta. Theta was his best friend, but Arkytior was just like a sister to him. He just wanted what was best for her, and he was pretty sure that Theta wasn't it despite his feelings of friendship for him. Still he was happy if Ari was. All he wanted was what would make her happy in the end.

Eris screamed in rage at the news and locked herself in her room immediately as she began to rip it apart in frustration. She was more determined than ever to make Arkytior pay for taking Theta away from her. He would have been hers if not for her. She was certain of that. He was supposed to be her husband. They were truly meant to be together in her mind, and no one would ever be able to tell her any different at least not for a long time anyway.

Within an hour of their departure, word reached Persephone and the Doctor's mother, Calliope, about their children's elopement at almost the same time. Neither of them were too thrilled to hear about it to say the least. Calliope hit the roof immediately while Persephone sat in her house and silently fumed about it.

She had heard the news from one of her friends who had heard it from one of her friends and so on. She started screaming in rage immediately and instantly assigned blame for the situation onto one person. She knew whose fault this was, and she was going to give her a piece of her mind.

She marched off to talk to Persephone immediately. That woman wasn't going to get away with this. This time she had gone too far. She had put up with her erratic behavior for years without saying anything because she was very fond of Arkytior, but now she had driven both of their children into making what was to Calliope's mind a huge mistake. She was going to let her have it with both barrels this time.

Calliope banged so hard on Persephone's door that Persephone wondered how she hadn't torn it down. She knew who it was the second that she heard the loud knocks. Only Calliope would be that angry at this particular point in time. Of course she was going to blame her for the elopement. It couldn't be that son of hers fault after all. Of course not.

Calliope looked like she was about to fly at her and tear her to shreds the moment that Persephone opened the door. Persephone was almost frightened at the look of anger in her eyes. She looked like she lost her mind. That must be where her son got his insanity from she thought to herself.

Calliope barged in immediately as Persephone said sarcastically, "Well, of course you can come in."

"This is not a time for social niceties, Persephone. Believe me when I say that I am not in the mood for them," Calliope said.

"I take it that you're heard then?" Persephone asked.

"Yes and obviously you have too. I hope that you're proud of yourself," Calliope said.

"I should have known that it would be my fault. It couldn't be Theta's fault of course for not respecting my wishes and staying out of my daughter's life," Persephone said.

"She wants to be with him. She loves him if you hadn't noticed," Calliope said.

"He's not the right person for her. She'll see that someday," Persephone said.

"Who is the right person, Persephone? No one is that's who. Just admit it! You never want her to get married. You're afraid of being alone," Calliope said.

Persephone became furious and had to restrain herself from attacking her right then and there as she said, "I don't care if she gets married as long as it's to the right person."

"What's the matter, Percy? Did I hit a nerve? He is the right person, and you know it. That's what scares you, isn't it? You knew that if their relationship continued in the direction that it was going that one day they would get married. So you pitched a fit and did your best to tear them apart. Only it backfired, didn't it? You didn't drive them apart at all. All you did was make them even closer. Do you know why? Because it's true love! You can't destroy what they have together because they're really and truly in love. All that you've done with your little temper tantrum is to make them jump the gun way too early in their relationship. They're going to make a huge mistake now thanks to you!" Calliope shouted at Persephone.

"I know that it's a mistake, and I did my best to stop it before it happened. I told her not to get married to him. This is not my fault. It was all her idea," Persephone said as she defended herself.

"You mean that you knew about this beforehand and didn't stop her? What were you thinking? You should have said that you had changed your mind and that she could continue seeing him when she said that. She would have never eloped if you hadn't told her that she could never see him again. She's overreacted because of her fear of losing him. You caused this, Persephone. It's all your fault," Calliope said.

"She should have listened to me. I'm her mother, and she should have respected my wishes," Persephone said.

"She's old enough to make her own decisions now although they're both too young to marry yet. You needed to butt out and let her live her own life. You couldn't do that though, could you? You never knew when to leave well enough alone, did you?" Calliope said.

"I'm just trying to make sure that she'll be happy and not look back on her life in regret someday. I'm just trying to do what's in her own best interests," Persephone said.

"He's been good for her, and she's been nothing but good for him. They're stronger together than they ever will be apart. I can see that. Why can't you? Do you really care about what's best for her, or are you too busy worrying about yourself to think about that?" Calliope asked.

Persephone exploded into anger as she shouted, "Get out of my house! Don't you dare tell me that I don't care about my Arkytior! She means everything to me!"

Calliope knew that she had crossed the line, but she was too angry to care at the moment. She just wanted to hurt Persephone for what had happened. She was afraid that she had ruined both Arkytior and Theta's lives with what she perceived as her selfishness.

"I love her too. She's just like one of my own children because she's been a part of my life since she was a little girl. I've watched her grow up as a shy and timid person, and I only want the best for her too. Lately her love for Theta has been making her come out of her shell, and she's gotten better. Haven't you noticed that? She's actually speaking to strangers now, and she's going to parties and having fun. That's all because of Theta. He's made her better. If you took him away from her, then she'd become that same quiet, insecure person that she was before. Don't you realize that? She's changing for him. She's finally letting go of all of her doubts and moving on into the future. Don't you want that for her?" Calliope argued.

"Arkytior is going to parties?" Persephone said in shock.

The girl that she knew was so shy that she couldn't even stand to be around other people for more than a minute without feeling the urge to hide somewhere from them. The only people that Ari ever felt comfortable around at all were Theta, Cliodna, and Koschei. She even seemed to hold back somewhat around them growing up as well, and she had been friends with all of them since early childhood.

"You didn't know, did you? Did you know that Ari was dressing in bright pink now and actually kissing Theta in public without a care?" Calliope asked.

Persephone's eyes were now widened in shock because she had not known anything about any of this until now. All that she knew was that for some reason they had suddenly started dating recently.

"You've lost touch with her. I know her better than you do now, and that's a shame. She's a wonderful person, Persephone. You should be proud of her. You should have supported her relationship with Theta no matter what. I hope that they're both going to be okay," Calliope said with worry in her voice.

Persephone looked at her in anger now as she said, "You did this. You encouraged them. You turned her against me!"

"What?! Nonsense! You're just trying to put the guilt that you feel for all of this onto me and make me into a scapegoat," Calliope said in outrage.

"Get out! Get out of here, and never come back! You took the only person that I care about away from me! I hope that you're happy!" Persephone shouted with more anger than Calliope had ever seen her show before.

"I didn't do anything. You did that yourself. You pushed her away, Persephone, not me. If you'd just embrace her relationship with Theta, she'd come back to you. She loves you," Calliope said.

"Get out," Persephone said in a cold voice.

Calliope gave her a stare of pure hatred then as she said, "Fine. I'm going. If and when you decide to swallow your pride and admit that you're wrong, then be sure and let Arkytior know. She's a sweet girl, and she deserves to have her mother be a part of her life especially when she has children. You know that she's been talking about that lately, right? She wants to call her first child Cassiopeia by the way. She's convinced that she's going to have a little girl first for some reason. It's almost as if she can see the future somehow. I just thought that you'd like to know."

Calliope left then and as soon as the door shut, Persephone said in a low whisper, "I'm sorry."

She smiled to herself as she realized that even now Arkytior was reaching out to her. Cassiopeia was the name of her mother. She had told her that once when she was a child, and she had remembered.

She considered giving up her opposition to the Doctor for a moment, and then her resolve returned. She wasn't wrong about this. She knew that Arkytior would eventually see that she was right about him and come back to her. She was sure of that.

Surely she wouldn't lose her for good over this, would she? She couldn't. She wasn't sure if she could go on anymore without her in her life. She'd see that she was right and come back. She had to.

She knew deep down that everything that Calliope had said about her being afraid of losing Arkytior to Theta was true, but she was too proud to admit that for now. One day she finally would, but their relationship would never quite be the same again until Lily Wright met Rose Tyler centuries later.

While Persephone sat down with her heart filled with regret and sorrow, Theta and Arkytior were finally getting married at last. They had found an Outsider that Theta knew who used to live in the Capitol. He still had the right to marry couples even now way out here. He didn't get much use of that ability these days, but he seemed to be very happy to get back into practice by marrying them.

The ceremony was a simple one, but Arkytior didn't care. She was Theta's wife at last, and soon she would be a mother. The Bad Wolf, as she had started calling her power as though it were a separate entity from herself somehow, had shown her this in a vision. She was going to have a little girl, and she was going to be beautiful.

Arkytior couldn't stop smiling from that point onward. She had never been so happy in her life. The only thing that had marred this whole day was her mother's disapproval, but she was sure that she would get her back once she showed her Cassiopeia. It was only a matter of time.

Surely not even her mother could object to her marriage with a little granddaughter around. Everything would be healed between them then she was sure of it.

Meanwhile, Cydonia kept wondering when this would be over. She had made sure that Arkytior and Theta got married. What else did she need to do before she could go home? Or was this it? Was this her final fate to live on Gallifrey as a Time Lord forever?

Would Clara Oswald become nothing but a slowly fading memory now?

**Next: The next chapter will be an epilogue to my Silence storyline as we find out the truth about Cydonia and her connection to Clara at last. **


	12. Written in the Stars

CHAPTER 12

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

WRITTEN IN THE STARS

"Do I know how to pick a location for a honeymoon or what?" Theta asked Arkytior.

He wanted to make their honeymoon special since the wedding had been in the middle of the wild lands and had been so simple and uneventful. He thought that Ari deserved so much more than that. He would have given her the planets and the stars from the sky if he could even though he knew that she would never want them.

So he gave them to her the only way that he could, and the only way that he knew that she would truly enjoy them. He used Arkytior's TARDIS to take her to one of his favorite places. It was a place that he had first gone to when his mother took him there when he was just a kid.

"Is this what I think it is?" Arkytior asked as they looked out through the open doors of the TARDIS onto the beautiful expanse of space before them.

"Yep. It's the Medusa Cascade. A rift in time and space that's been here who knows how long. It could have been here since the beginning of time for all anyone knows," Theta said.

Arkytior looked out in wonderment at the beauty before her. She smiled as she saw the stars, the planets, the moons, and the rift itself all laid out in front of her. Theta had taken her to the perfect spot to best see them from in all of their glory it seemed.

"Did you have this planned out ahead of time?" Arkytior asked with a suspicious smile.

"Yeah. I've kinda been planning this moment for a long, long time now," Theta admitted.

"Since when?" Arkytior asked.

"Since I was first brought here as a kid," Theta admitted with a grin.

Arkytior smiled and gave him a tender kiss under the starlight. All of this had touched her deeply. What he said next almost made her cry.

"I was going to ask you to marry me here when the time was right," Theta said.

"I guess I messed that up then. I'm sorry. I know that our wedding wasn't exactly the grandest affair. You deserved so much more than that," Arkytior said in an emotional voice.

"It's okay. I had everything that I wanted there. I had you. I didn't need anything else," Theta said.

"You keep talking like that, and I'm going to have to kiss you until we both die from old age," Arkytior said with an evil grin.

"That would be some kiss. It might be worth missing the rest of my lives for. In fact, I think I really wouldn't mind it. What a way to go, eh?" Theta joked.

"I'm sorry if I ruined your plans. I just wanted to make sure that we would never be apart," Arkytior said as she held him tightly.

"Nothing's ruined, Ari. Nothing. This right here in this moment is exactly the way that I always saw it happening when we would come here. This is everything that I always planned on happening and more. Ari, I do have a question to ask you, and I thought that this would be the perfect place for it," Theta said.

"We're already married. You've missed the boat on that one," Arkytior said with a grin.

"No, I wanted to ask if you wanted to link now. We could wait if you want until we're older since we did marry young. I just wondered what you thought about it," Theta asked hesitantly.

"I've wanted to link minds with you since I've known you. I consider that a part of being your wife, Theta. I wasn't sure what you thought about it, or I would have brought it up sooner. Do you want to do it now? I can't think of a better place for it," Arkytior said.

"Me either," Theta said.

The two of them began to kiss passionately then as they clasped hands. They reached out for each other's minds in that moment; and as they became lost amidst their newfound happiness and joy, they became one in every way possible. That night they exchanged their true names with each other under the stars of the Cascade, and their names were written inside of it forever as a result.

Centuries later the Doctor would start thinking of the Medusa Cascade constantly after he lost Rose, but he never understood why. Not until much later.

Theta and Arkytior spent days in the Cascade as he showed her all of the beauty of the area. He even took her to the Fifteenth Broken Moon. If any place had a better view of the beauty of this area, that was it. They would sit on the surface of the moon and watch the stars just as they had on Gallifrey. It was beginning to become a nightly habit that neither of them wanted to break. Even in the future, Rose Tyler would always have a feeling of being loved whenever she looked up at the stars, but she didn't understand why that was until she found out the truth about who she really was.

On the seventh day of their honeymoon, Arkytior had a dream about Cassiopeia again. Only this time it was much more vivid. Even after she woke up, she could feel another presence in her mind now besides Theta's; and she knew that this time it was much more than a dream. This was real. She could feel it in that moment even before her body confirmed it for her later on.

She was pregnant.

She smiled to herself as she went back to sleep. She would tell Theta once she was completely sure. She was already certain of the truth of it in her own mind though. She was going to be a mother.

Her child was going to be the most spoiled child in history. She was already certain of that even if she couldn't be certain of anything else, and she knew that it wouldn't be her that would spoil her. It would be Theta. She would have him wrapped around her little finger even before she was born if she knew him.

She hoped that she would have the same effect on her mother and bring her back to her. She didn't want to lose her. She was going to do everything in her power to keep the two of them together if she could. Next to Theta, her mother meant everything to her.

Regretfully, the two of them came back to Gallifrey at last only a day after they left so that they could continue to go to the Academy. They didn't want to leave the school. They wanted to continue until they finished.

It wouldn't be much longer now until they put that part of their lives behind them forever. They were almost done. Soon they would graduate, and then they could pick their own names at last. These would be the names that they would go by for the rest of their lives although she wouldn't find a name that she was really satisfied with until much, much later.

Once they returned and went back to their lives as though nothing had happened, they soon realized that they weren't fooling anyone. Everyone kept looking at them with huge grins on their faces, and they knew that everyone knew that they were married. This was confirmed when Cliodna saw them. She ran up to both of them and hugged them tightly while she laughed with joy.

"Finally! You guys finally did it. I am so, so happy for you!" Cliodna shouted.

"You know?" Arkytior asked her in amazement.

"Of course I know. Everyone knows! It's spread all over the Capitol. Everyone's so happy for you," Cliodna said.

"Everyone?" Arkytior asked.

"Well, almost everyone. Persephone's still in a funk from what I hear, and Eris hasn't been seen in a while although I've heard that she's not taking it too well to say the least. There's talk about wild screams coming from her room late last night even though our rooms are supposed to be soundproof. Everyone else loves it though for sure. They think that it's about time and so do I," Cliodna said happily.

"Thank you," Arkytior said, and Cliodna noticed for the first time that she was glowing.

Cliodna questioned her silently while Theta stood by oblivious. She gestured to Arkytior's stomach, and Arkytior nodded. Then she pointed at Theta, and Ari shook her head. Cliodna could barely keep from screaming, but she kept Arkytior's secret. Just barely.

When Theta looked away for a moment, Cliodna mouthed the words "When are you going to tell him?" Arkytior mouthed back "Soon", and Cliodna nodded with a huge smile on her face. She mouthed "Congratulations" to Arkytior, and Arkytior smiled back at her gratefully.

"I still can't believe that everyone found out so quickly. I always feel like I'm out of the loop around this place. It's like I'm always missing something that's right in front of my face all of the time," Theta said.

"That's because you pretty much always are," Cliodna said with a giggle.

"Thanks a lot, Cliodna," Theta said with a frown.

"I'm just doing my job, Theta. It's what I'm here for is to keep you humble," Cliodna said as she kissed him tenderly on the cheek.

"I'm so happy for both of you, Theta," Cliodna said with a warm smile on her face.

"Thank you, Cliodna. You really are my best friend," Theta said as he hugged her.

"That's funny. I thought I was," Cydonia said as she walked up to them.

"You're a good friend to me too. You know you are," Theta said.

"Congratulations to both of you. Especially on the b-," Cydonia started to say before Cliodna quickly wrapped her hand around her mouth.

"What are you doing?" Theta asked in surprise.

"She was about to give something away that she's not supposed to yet. The silly girl," Cliodna said as she looked at Cydonia knowingly.

Cydonia then realized in shock what she had almost done and looked at her in horror. Once Cliodna knew that Cydonia finally got it that she wasn't to tell him about the baby yet, she finally let go of her.

"Sorry, Theta. I almost spoiled the surprise. I thought that you already knew," Cydonia said.

"About what?" Theta asked completely lost.

Cydonia couldn't think of what to say so Cliodna picked up the story for her as she said, "About the party that we're throwing for you. A few of us decided to throw a special surprise party once we found out that you got married in order to celebrate. It'll be later on this week, and you've got to act surprised when we appear, alright? If you don't, I'll belt you one, got it?"

"Got it. You're hanging around Koschei too much I think. You're starting to act just like him," Theta said.

"I resent that. I was always tough even before I met him," Cliodna said.

"I guess I'll have to go on ahead to class now. I have an earlier class than all of you. I'll see you later," Theta said but he didn't move.

"Aren't you going?" Arkytior asked.

"I don't want to. I want to stay here with you," Theta said.

Arkytior smiled with a wide grin all over her face as she said, "You need to go before you're late, you silly man. Go on. I'll still be here when you get back. I'm not going anywhere."

"I just don't want to leave you. Ever," Theta said.

"I know but you have to sometime," Arkytior said.

"I think that if I ever had to be away from you for too long that I would die inside. I would have to wander for all of eternity just to keep my mind off of you," Theta said.

"It's lucky for you then that that's not going to happen then, isn't it?" Arkytior said as she kissed him.

Theta continued to stare at her and wouldn't leave until finally Cliodna said, "Will you go onto class already? Do it! Go! Don't make me hurt you!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Theta said with a grin as he finally turned around and left. He still kept looking at Arkytior though as he walked and almost ran into several people along the way as he went.

"Man, he's got it bad," Cliodna said as she rolled her eyes at him.

"I thought that he'd never leave. I'm glad that you stopped me before I told him about the baby," Cydonia said.

"How did you know about her? I haven't told anyone but Cliodna," Arkytior said.

"Her?" Cliodna asked with a smile.

"Yes. I'm calling her Cassiopeia," Arkytior said.

"I didn't think it was possible for me to be any happier for you but I am," Cliodna said as she hugged Arkytior tightly.

"How did you know though?" Cliodna asked Cydonia.

"I know a lot of things that I shouldn't know because I'm much more than I seem. I'm going to tell both of you something. It's something that I've never told anyone. I swear that I'm not crazy. It will sound like I am but I'm not," Cydonia said.

"Well, tell us already. I swear that we won't have you hauled away," Cliodna said.

"Tell us, Cydonia. I think that I might just believe you because I've known that there was something different about you from the day that I met you," Arkytior said.

"I'm not really a Gallifreyan. I know that I was born here, but I wasn't born here the first time. I lived another life before this one. A completely different life," Cydonia said.

"You mean like reincarnation?" Arkytior asked.

"What's that?" Cliodna asked.

"It's a human belief that means that someone can be reborn over and over again as different people in different bodies, but they're essentially the same person living over and over again in different times and places. I read about it once when I was looking through an old book on Earth," Arkytior explained.

"It sounds a little like regeneration," Cliodna commented.

"It's not like reincarnation at all. Well, maybe a little, except that I never died. I can't tell you all of the details because I may alter the timeline that way. I'll just say that I come from the Earth of the future where I was born as a human," Cydonia said.

"I don't believe you," Cliodna said.

"What time did you come from?" Arkytior asked.

"The twenty-first century," Cydonia said.

"Who's your favorite singer?" Arkytior asked.

Cydonia said the name of Arkytior's favorite singer, and then she asked, "What's your favorite song of hers?"

Cydonia said the name of several of that singer's songs that she liked, but then settled on one in particular. Arkytior was shocked at her knowledge. The only reason that Arkytior knew about that singer and her music was because she had gone to Earth several times and heard her played on the radio and television there.

She knew that Cydonia had never been to Earth before so there was no way that she could know about her. She certainly couldn't have found out about her in the Academy library. Their books were very lacking on human popular culture. She would have to speak to them about that sometime.

"You don't really believe her, do you?" Cliodna asked.

"I do. How else could she know what she just told me?" Arkytior asked.

"She could have been to Earth too," Cliodna said.

"You haven't been there though, have you?" Arkytior asked Cliodna.

"Not in this lifetime," Cydonia said.

"If you were a human before, then how did you know about my child?" Arkytior asked.

"I knew Theta, the future version of him I mean. I was his friend in that life too. He was in danger and in order to save him I became splintered in time after I jumped into his timeline. I'm now living many different lives in many different places, but I'm not really the same person anymore that I was," Cydonia said in a sad voice.

"I'm so sorry. I wish that I could help you. I have no idea how to though," Arkytior said.

"You leapt into his timeline? That was crazy. Why would you do that?" Cliodna asked.

"Someone was trying to rewrite his entire life and destroy him. I had to stop them. I succeeded and he's okay now, but I still haven't gone home yet. I thought that maybe once I saved Theta that I would become who I was before, but I haven't. I'm still Cydonia. I just want to go home," Cydonia said in tears.

Arkytior embraced her as she said, "I'm so sorry. If I could help you, I would."

"You couldn't use your powers?" Cydonia whispered.

Arkytior froze in fear as Cydonia whispered again reassuringly, "I'm sorry. I know about them from the future. I would never tell anyone about them though. I promise."

"Thank you. No, I can't use them. I don't know how. They just kind of come out on their own," Arkytior whispered back as she relaxed.

"It's okay. Even if you can't ever go home again, you can still talk to the two of us about it now. We'll always be here for you," Cliodna said.

"Thank you. Both of you," Cydonia said.

"You must be a very good friend to him to do something like that for him, or are you more than that?" Arkytior asked.

"What are you talking about? He's still with you in the future, Ari. You can be sure of that," Cliodna said as she looked at her in surprise.

"He's certainly not with me," Cydonia said as she smiled at Cliodna's comment. Leave it to Amy Pond to always defend the Doctor no matter what even before she was Amy Pond.

Arkytior nodded. He must be with the woman named Jackie that she had met before.

"It's time for me to go now. I need to go to class soon," Arkytior said.

She really didn't want to go anywhere though. She wanted to find out more about Theta's life in the future. At least as much about it as Cydonia was willing to tell her anyway.

"Do you know that I was actually a friend of your mother's before you were born, Arkytior? She doesn't recognize me now though," Cydonia said.

"She did actually, but she thought that you weren't the same person. How could you know her before I was born? I thought that you were about the same age as me," Arkytior said.

"Well, technically I am. I was a different person then although I looked the same as I do now, and I died shortly after you were born. Then I was born again as Cydonia a month later," Cydonia said.

Both Time Ladies looked at her in disbelief as she said, "What can I say? My life is very, very weird!"

"I'll say," Cliodna said as she shook her head.

"I have to go to class and so does Cliodna, but we'll both be around whenever you need to talk to someone. Even if you do get stuck here forever maybe that will at least give you some comfort. I hope so anyway," Arkytior said as she gave her another hug.

"Thank you. Both of you," Cydonia said as the two of them left.

She couldn't tell them the whole story. She didn't dare tell them that she was the Doctor's companion, Clara Oswald, and that she might never see him or any of their future selves ever again. She also didn't dare tell Arkytior how she would be separated and then reunited with him again someday. She knew that if she told them all of that she might do as much damage or worse to the timestream than Davros had attempted to do.

She could feel that the Doctor was safe now somehow through her connection to her other selves, but she still hadn't gone home to be with him yet. She wondered if she ever would. Was this the end for her then? Was she going to be stuck here as a Time Lady forever?

She decided to skip her own classes today as she went home. She lay down on her bed and just let her thoughts drift off as she began to remember her past life as Clara. She began crying as she began to fall into despair.

Then she felt strange as if she were leaving her body. She saw her surroundings begin to change, and then she was suddenly in a different place with all of the Doctor's incarnations walking all around her ignoring her. She realized that she was inside the Doctor's timeline.

"Clara?" a familiar voice asked.

She turned and saw Rose standing there. She tried to get up and make her way to Rose, but she was so weak that she could barely move. She knew now that she was back in her human body, and it had been greatly weakened by being splintered so much.

"Don't try to get up. Let me help," Rose said.

Then the Doctor came up beside her and Rose said, "I thought I told you to stay where you were."

"I wanted to help get her back too. She's my friend," the Doctor said.

"Fine. At least you caught up to me anyway. If you hadn't, you might have become stuck in here forever," Rose said in an aggravated voice.

"You underestimate me, Rose. I can take care of myself. I was doing it for centuries before I found you again," the Doctor said.

"Then why did you need so many companions then?" Rose said.

"I didn't have you," the Doctor said.

Rose smiled and kissed him while Clara grinned at them both. It was amazing to her how the two of them really were the same now as they were back then. Their love for each other never changed, and she doubted that it ever would.

"Am I going home now? What happens to Cydonia?" Clara asked.

"Yes, you're going home now, sweetie. As for Cydonia, she'll live out her life like she was going to before. Only it won't be with you inside of her from now on," Rose said as she and the Doctor helped Clara to her feet.

"Who will she be then? Will she still be like me?" Clara asked in a weak voice.

"Yes. She still is a part of you after all. She's going to become a good friend to me, Amy, and the Doctor. I lost track of her after I was lost on Earth though so I have no idea where she went after that," Rose said.

"I don't know either. That's when I went traveling in the TARDIS. I lost track of her too and never saw her again. I guess she died in the Time War," the Doctor said.

"Do you think so?" Clara asked.

"I honestly don't know," the Doctor said with a thoughtful look on his face as he began to wonder that now himself.

"Let's not worry about that now, Clara. All that matters is that we're getting you home," Rose said.

"Thank you," Clara said.

"That's the least that we can do after what you did for me," the Doctor said as he smiled at her warmly.

"I'd do it again if I had to. Please don't make me have to though," Clara said.

"I won't. I promise," the Doctor said with a grin.

"Why do I not feel better about that?" Clara asked as Rose laughed.

Cydonia woke up in her bed back in the past and smiled. She knew now that Clara was free. She wondered where her own life went from here. She decided to go on to the Academy and find out.

Arkytior meanwhile wondered when would be the right time to tell Theta about the baby. She decided that she would wait until the end of the day during Cliodna's surprise party. She knew that if she told him before the party that he'd probably pass out.

Besides where was the sense in throwing a surprise party without a surprise anyway?

**Next: Arkytior tells Theta and Persephone about the baby. What are the odds that Theta passes out? I'd say that they're pretty good myself. **


	13. The Proud (and Unconscious) Father

CHAPTER 13

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

THE PROUD (AND UNCONSCIOUS) FATHER

Arkytior somehow made it through the next couple of days without Theta finding out that she was pregnant even though she threw up several times. She told him that she just had an upset stomach and luckily he believed it. Of course as madly in love with her as he was lately, she thought that he probably would have believed her if she had told him that she had three heads and came from Jupiter. Which was doubly unbelievable since everyone knew that the natives of Jupiter only had two heads.

She promised herself not to use this newfound power over him for evil. She would only use it to make him get her some new clothes or some of those chips that she loved so much the next time that they went to Earth. That wasn't so bad, was it?

Then it was time for Cliodna's surprise party. This was the big day. She was going to tell him about the baby today. She steeled herself for what lay ahead, and she really hoped that he didn't take it too hard. She practiced her catching technique just in case anyway. She knew that she'd probably have to catch him very quickly when he passed out before he hit his head on the floor.

As they showed up for the party and Theta completely overacted in order to pretend that he was surprised, Arkytior was extremely shocked at the number of people who were attending. She hadn't realized that this many people even knew them much less cared about them.

In addition to the friendly faces of Cliodna, Selene, Koschei, and Cydonia, she also saw many people there that she knew but didn't usually associate with like Ushas, Annika, and Drax. She smiled as she saw them all gathered together like this. She never would have believed that this many people would have shown up in a billion years. It really impressed upon her just how much that she had cut herself off from the outside world until she had finally come out of her shell. She hadn't even noticed how many people there were whose lives she had impacted in one way or another until now.

"Quite a turnout, huh?" Cliodna said with a huge smile.

"I'll say," Arkytior said.

"Well, it doesn't surprise me any. I mean someone as incredible as I am would have a huge following. It just stands to reason," Theta said with a huge smile.

"Do you think that all of these people are here just to see you?" Koschei asked Theta with disbelief.

"Of course. I'm a legend in my own time," Theta said smugly.

"Unbelievable," Koschei said as he shook his head at him.

"It is, isn't it? Even I didn't know that I was this beloved," Theta said.

"I was talking about your ego. That's what's unbelievable," Koschei said.

"Yeah like you don't have a swelled head," Theta muttered.

"Yes, but in my case it's entirely justified. I know that I'm as wonderful as I think I am," Koschei said.

"That's it! If you two don't stop talking about how great you both are, I'm going to deflate both of your egos at the same time by slapping you both out the door!" Cliodna threatened.

Both of them quickly fell silent, and Arkytior couldn't help but laugh.

"You're my hero, did you know that?" Arkytior said to Cliodna.

"I am pretty amazing, aren't I?" Cliodna asked with a grin.

"Now look who has a swelled head," Theta muttered.

"What was that?" Cliodna asked in a threatening voice.

"Nothing," Theta said quickly.

"That's it, Cliodna. Show them who's the boss," Ushas said as she came up to talk.

Arkytior was shocked as Koschei went from his usual smug self to a complete wallflower as he looked down at the ground and became very silent as soon as Ushas appeared. Arkytior smiled as she realized that Koschei liked Ushas. This was just too much.

"I usually do. I have to keep them in line, or they'd get too far out of control. I swear that if Ari and I weren't around to bring them back down to Gallifrey every once in a while that they'd both go out of control and probably become major renegades that would menace the universe," Cliodna said.

"Oh, come on. That's not true, and you know it," Theta complained.

"It certainly is. What's the matter with you, Koschei? Don't you have a rebuttal to what I just said?" Cliodna asked.

Koschei kept his eyes on the ground as he silently shook his head. He said nothing at all and looked extremely embarrassed.

"Why are you so quiet for?" Cliodna asked in surprise.

Koschei said nothing. He just kept looking at the floor and gave a nervous laugh. Cliodna looked at Arkytior with a confused expression on her face while she just laughed at her. Ushas rolled her eyes and gave a snort of derision.

"I think he's lost his power of speech. From what I've heard about him, we should be thankful for small mercies," Ushas said sarcastically.

As Ushas started to leave, Arkytior took her to the side as she said, "I think he likes you."

"I know. He's not going to get anywhere with that approach though. When he can actually look me in the eye and speak two words to me, then I might consider talking to him. Until then, forget it," Ushas said.

"What if Theta had felt that way about me?" Arkytior asked.

"The difference is that you always talked to him even when you didn't tell him how you felt about him. That and he was always head over heels in love with you even when he was a kid," Ushas said.

"You don't have any feelings at all for Koschei?" Arkytior asked in disappointment.

"No. I'm afraid not. He's not bad to look at I must admit, but other than that I have no interest in him," Ushas said.

"I don't believe you. I know you're not as shallow as you pretend to be," Arkytior said.

"Really? You obviously don't know me as well as you think you do," Ushas said.

As Ushas started to leave, she noticed Arkytior looking sadly at the floor as if she had been defeated. Ushas groaned and turned around as she said, "I'll give him a chance later on, okay? Will that make you feel better?"

"Thank you," Arkytior said as she smiled a wide grin at her.

"Good. It's best not to upset a pregnant woman too much," Ushas said.

"What? How did you know?" Arkytior asked in surprise.

"I know everything. I have eyes and ears everywhere," Ushas said.

"Cliodna told you, didn't she?" Arkytior said with a sigh.

"I couldn't shut her up about it. She really loves you like a second sister, Arkytior. She's very happy for you. I wish I had someone like that in my life," Ushas said.

"I'd like to be your friend," Arkytior offered.

Ushas looked surprised at first and then said, "Thanks. I'd like that."

Arkytior came back to the others after talking a few minutes to Ushas. She really felt as if she had found a good friend in her.

"What did she say?" Koschei asked eagerly.

"What?" Arkytior asked.

"What did she say about me?" Koschei asked.

"Oh, she likes you. She said that she's been waiting on you to ask her on a date sometime. She's wants you to make the first move," Arkytior lied.

Theta looked at her in shock, but Koschei believed her completely and nodded with a big grin on his face. He just kept smiling as he rushed off to talk to Ushas. Ushas looked at Arkytior with an angry expression for a moment as Koschei started talking away to her. Arkytior gave her a pleading look though, and she finally seemed to give in as she smiled back at her. She continued to listen to Koschei chatter away, and then seemed to actually be happy to talk to him after a while.

"You lied," Theta said in shock.

"What do you mean?" Arkytior asked as she played dumb.

"You lied to him. She didn't like him, and she never said that. You never lie. Why did you do that?" Theta asked.

"I wanted to bring them together. What harm did I do?" Arkytior asked.

"I'm just surprised that's all," Theta said in a disturbed voice.

Arkytior wrapped her arms around him as she said, "I would never lie to you, Theta. I want you to know that."

"I know," Theta said but he still looked upset.

"I have been keeping something from you though. I was waiting until the right time to tell you, and I guess this is just as good a time as any," Arkytior said with a huge smile.

"What is it? Are you okay? You're not sick are you? I know you kept throwing up a lot lately," Theta said worried.

"No, I'm not sick. Well I have had morning sickness if that counts," Arkytior said with a giggle.

"Morning sickness?" Theta asked in confusion.

"Yes, Theta, you generally get that when you're pregnant," Arkytior said with an ever widening smile on her face.

"What?" Theta asked as he looked at her in complete incomprehension.

"I'm pregnant, Theta. We're going to have a little girl. I'm calling her Cassiopeia," Arkytior said with joy.

"What?" Theta asked again as it still hadn't hit him yet.

"She said that you're having a baby, you moron!" Cliodna said from behind Theta.

"What?!" Theta cried out in complete shock.

Arkytior began to worry that maybe he didn't want a child when he suddenly began to smile with a wider grin than she had ever seen him have in her life. He was filled with joy now as he hugged her tightly.

"I'm going to be a dad!" Theta screamed.

Then he fainted. He just passed out right in front of Arkytior. Luckily all of her practice worked as she caught him right away. Did she know her Theta in and out or what?

"Why am I not surprised at this?" Cydonia said with amusement as she walked up to them to see Arkytior holding an unconscious Theta in her arms.

"He was actually happy about it despite what it might look like. I think that he was a little bit too happy. He was overwhelmed," Arkytior said.

"Let's get Mr. Happy to the couch. You don't need to stand there holding him all night. You're pregnant," Cliodna said as she sighed.

Cliodna and Cydonia worked together to move the unconscious Theta to a nearby couch and laid him down there. It was at that moment that Annika, who Arkytior really didn't know that well, came over to them. She looked at Theta with a questioning glance before talking to Arkytior.

"What happened to him?" Annika asked.

"He just heard the good news," Arkytior said.

"Oh, about the baby?" Annika asked smiling.

Arkytior glared at Cliodna who looked away as she said, "Did everyone know about the baby except Theta?"

"Cliodna told me about it. She's my friend. She's tells me everything," Annika said.

"Apparently she tells everyone everything," Arkytior said with anger.

"Sorry," Annika said to Cliodna.

"It's okay. I'm not really that mad. Don't worry about it. It's nice to meet you. I don't think that we've really talked that much before," Arkytior said to Annika.

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm sorry that I've never talked to you before. I've always been a little intimidated," Annika said.

"By me?" Arkytior asked in disbelief.

"No, by Theta. He talks so much and is always asking so many questions," Annika admitted.

"So you waited until he was unconscious to come and talk to me. That's probably a good idea," Arkytior said with a laugh.

"I just wanted to say congratulations on your marriage and on the baby," Annika said.

"Thank you. You can always talk to me whenever you want from now on, okay? Even if Theta is around, just come on over and talk to me anyway. Don't mind him," Arkytior said.

"I never do," Cliodna joked.

"Oh, come on. You love Theta," Arkytior said.

"Of course I do, but don't tell him that. He might think that I've lost my edge or something," Cliodna said with a mischievous grin.

"Oh, come on, Cliodna. You're one of the sweetest people I've ever met," Annika said.

"That's true. You're a sweetheart," Arkytior agreed.

"Hey, don't say that so loud! You're going to undo years of hard work," Cliodna said with a giggle.

"Did I hear someone say that you were sweet? Oh, I love that! Hello, sweetie!" Theta said with a chuckle as he finally woke up.

He suddenly screamed in pain as Cliodna slapped him in the face. He looked at her in complete surprise as he asked, "What was that for?"

"You called me sweetie!" Cliodna said in mock outrage.

"Yes, you committed an unforgivable act against her, Theta," Arkytior said with a smile.

Annika just shook her head at their antics but smiled. She could get used to being around them. She liked them. They were all good people.

"Don't worry then. From now on, I'll never say anything nice about her ever again," Theta said as he rubbed his face.

"So did you get a good rest?" Cliodna teased as she quickly changed the subject.

"I wasn't resting. I was just surprised that's all," Theta said.

"You fainted is what you did," Cliodna said.

"I did not! I never faint!" Theta protested.

"You fainted like a little girl," Cliodna said as she giggled at him.

"I did not!" Theta shouted.

"Yes, you did. You fainted dead away," Cliodna said with glee.

"Shut up!" Theta said.

"Make me!" Cliodna said defiantly.

Arkytior saw the look of frustration on Theta's face and began laughing her head off. She was enjoying this so much she could hardly stand it.

"Oh, you find this amusing, do you? I never thought that you'd turn into such a traitor, Ari," Theta said with a frown.

Arkytior then stopped laughing and touched her stomach with a look of surprise on her face. Theta immediately dropped his angry act and was at her side in an instant with concern.

"What is it, Ari? Are you okay?" Theta asked.

Arkytior smiled at him as she said, "I'm fine. I'm just wonderful. The baby's kicking. She's happy. I can feel her laughing in my mind."

"What? She can hear us?" Theta asked as he gingerly touched Arkytior's stomach.

"Yes, I think that she can somehow," Arkytior said with a look of peaceful serenity on her face.

Theta could have sworn that he saw her eyes glowing for a moment, but it must have been a trick of the light. Cydonia though knew differently. She too had seen Arkytior's eyes glowing for just half a second. She knew that Cassiopeia had known what was going on because she was already developing her own connection to the Vortex even now through her mother.

"Hello, Cassiopeia. I'm your dad," Theta said to Arkytior's stomach.

"She's kicking again. I think she knows you," Arkytior said.

Theta began to smile again just like he had before he fainted, and Arkytior wondered if she should get ready to catch him again.

"Watch out, Ari, he's going to faint again. He might fall on top of you," Cliodna said.

"Stop it!" Theta said.

"What's this about Theta fainting?" Koschei asked with a massive grin on his face as he returned.

"He did. He passed out right in Ari's arms," Cliodna said happily.

"Oh, that's wonderful. I'm going to love telling the others about this. Wait till Magnus and Mortimus hear about it. Ushas just has to know too. She said yes by the way, Ari. She said yes! She's going on a date with me!" Koschei said with a big grin.

"I'm so happy for you, Koschei. See, I told you that she liked you," Arkytior said.

"Thanks, Ari," Koschei said as he hugged her.

Cliodna and Theta exchanged a look between them. It never ceased to amaze either of them how Koschei always treated Arkytior so gently when he was far from kind to anyone else. There was just something about Arkytior that made it hard for anyone to hate her, or at least that's what Theta thought anyway. He might have been biased of course.

After the party was over and everyone had gone home, Arkytior sneaked out of Theta's room late at night while he was asleep to see her mother. Arkytior was pretty much living with Theta now even though she still held onto her own room as well. It was mainly to put her things in at the moment. She was going to change that as soon as she was ready.

She had been too busy worrying about how to tell Theta about the baby to think about anything else. Now however she could approach the subject of moving her things into his room. She was sure that he wouldn't faint over that. Not until she asked him to get rid of some of his things of course. Then he might.

Arkytior made her way to her mother's home and knocked on the door for several minutes. Finally, Persephone came to the door with an odd mixture of anger and happiness on her face.

She knew that part of her mother was overjoyed to see her again, and the other half of her wanted to scream at her for eloping. She briefly wondered which one was going to win.

She smiled as Persephone hugged her tightly. She was so glad. She hadn't wanted Cassiopeia's first meeting with her grandmother to be an unpleasant one.

"I'm sorry for eloping without telling you but not for marrying him," Arkytior finally said.

"I still don't know if you've done the right thing or not," Persephone said but with a gentle expression on her face instead of one of anger.

"Tell me if you still think that I've done the wrong thing once you feel my stomach," Arkytior said with a peaceful smile.

"What?" Persephone asked.

"Oh, don't tell me you're going to faint too," Arkytior said with a groan.

Persephone touched Arkytior's stomach and felt the baby kick. She smiled at Arkytior and then began to cry with joy. She was going to be a grandmother.

"He fainted?" Persephone asked finally when she could control herself.

"Oh, yeah! Dead away. I had to catch him to keep him for hitting the floor," Arkytior said.

"He's an idiot, isn't he?" Persephone asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah but he's my idiot," Arkytior said happily.

"I just wanted you to be happy and have a future," Persephone said.

"I am happy, and I do have a future. There she is right there," Arkytior said as she pointed at her stomach.

"Hello, Cassiopeia," Persephone said and felt the baby kick in response to her name.

"How did you know? Did Cliodna tell you too?" Arkytior asked in frustration.

"No. Calliope did. She told me that you were going to call your first girl that when she came over here to blame me for your elopement," Persephone said.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't tell her to do that," Arkytior said with a wince.

"I know. I still can't condone what you did even though I'll always be there for Cassiopeia. I certainly don't want to see Theta though. He's dead to me," Persephone said.

"He didn't do anything. It was my idea. Don't do that to him," Arkytior said.

"Let's not fight right now, alright? Not right now," Persephone said as she felt the baby kick again.

"Alright," Arkytior said softly.

"I just want you to know despite how mad I may get at you sometimes and how stubborn I am about certain things that I will always love you, alright? Don't ever doubt that. I'll always love you and Cassiopeia," Persephone said as she hugged Arkytior's neck.

"I love you too, Mum. I always will," Arkytior said in tears.

Arkytior left after a few more minutes and quietly returned to what she was already beginning to think of as her home as she slipped into Theta's room. Soon it would be their room.

As soon as she got back in the bed with him, Theta asked, "Did it go well?"

"I thought you were asleep. Yes, it did. She still wants to argue, but we put that aside for just one night," Arkytior said.

"I woke up the minute you left. I knew right away where you were going. I'm glad that she set things aside for a while. You deserve to have a happy night tonight. You deserve to have a happy night every night," Theta said.

"I will from now on," Arkytior said with a smile as she kissed him.

"You made fun of me passing out, didn't you?" Theta said with a grin.

"Oh, yeah," Arkytior said with a giggle.

"Am I ever going to live that down?" Theta asked mournfully.

"Not if Cliodna has anything to say about it," Arkytior said.

"Great," Theta said with a sigh.

Then Arkytior kissed him, and he stopped worrying about anything for a while. It was funny how she always had that effect on him.

She always would.

**Next: Theta and Arkytior officially move in together and there is much moaning and groaning from Theta as Ari decides that she doesn't like most of his things. Meanwhile things get worse for Theta as his brother Braxiatel pays a visit to meet his new bride. He's not exactly overjoyed by the prospect to say the least. Oh and there's the first date between Koschei and Ushas too, but you wouldn't be interested in that, would you?**


	14. The Past Is Prologue

CHAPTER 14

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

THE PAST IS PROLOGUE

Not long after telling Theta about Cassiopeia, Arkytior finally asked him about moving in together. Theta looked at her with an odd expression on his face for a moment, and then he finally said, "I thought we already had moved in together."

Arkytior knew that Theta was thick, but this was a new level of obliviousness even for him. She couldn't believe that he hadn't even noticed that she hadn't moved in yet.

"How in the world did you think that?" Arkytior asked him as she looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"You're always here now, and you've stayed the night ever since we were married. I just thought that you had already taken care of it and gotten rid of your room already," Theta said.

"Didn't you wonder why I hadn't brought any of my things in here yet?" Arkytior asked.

"I just thought that you thought that what I had in here was good enough already, and that you had sent your things back to your mother's house. You should get them out of there and move them in here as soon as you can. I'll help you move them if you want me to. I'm sure that we can find room for them in here somewhere. There's no reason for you to have a separate room now unless you want to," Theta said.

"I definitely don't want to. I like being here with you. I just wanted to move my things in so that it felt more like my home," Arkytior said.

"It is your home, Ari. It's our home," Theta said as he kissed her tenderly.

"I'm so glad that you said that. I'll start moving my things in first thing tomorrow," Arkytior said.

Later on in the day, Theta told Cliodna and Koschei about this and was surprised when Koschei started laughing his head off.

"Exactly what is it that you find so funny?" Cliodna asked with a frown as she echoed Theta's thoughts.

"Nothing much. It's just that the poor fool doesn't realize what he's just done. He can basically say good bye to everything that he owns now," Koschei said with a chuckle.

"What are you talking about?" Theta asked in confusion.

"Don't listen to him. He has no idea what he's talking about. Trust me," Cliodna said as she continued to frown at Koschei.

"No, don't trust her, Theta. Listen to me. She's going to throw everything that you have away and replace it with her things. She'll consider all of her things to be superior to yours. By the time that she's finished, you won't have a thing left in that room that's yours," Koschei predicted.

"Ari would never do that," Theta protested.

"Yes, she will. If you have anything that you have any sentimental attachment to then you'd better send it back to your mother's house now," Koschei warned.

"Shut up and stop trying to fill his head full of stories. I thought that you cared about Ari," Cliodna said.

"I do. I love her like a sister, but I can't lie to Theta because of that. He's going to get cleaned out. I know Ari, and she won't let him keep all of that old, torn up, and smelly stuff that he has. She won't stand for it. I'm not trying to say anything bad about her at all. It's just the truth," Koschei said as his eyes softened.

"The truth according to you. That doesn't make it true though. I think that the two of you taking the final step is a good thing. Congratulations, Theta," Cliodna said with a warm smile on her face.

"Thanks. I'm looking forward to it," Theta said as he ignored Koschei shaking his head behind Cliodna.

Theta then saw an evil smile beginning to appear on Cliodna's face. Usually that was bad news to whoever she was angry at. He was worried for a second that maybe it was him when Cliodna shoved her elbow into Koschei's gut. Koschei let out a yelp of pain as Cliodna began to smile even more.

"That's for saying things about Arkytior," Cliodna said.

"I swear that I wasn't saying anything bad about her. I was just stating the facts," Koschei protested.

As Theta turned around to leave, he heard Koschei yell again. He should really learn how to keep his mouth shut especially around Cliodna.

After all of their classes were finished, Theta told Arkytior what Koschei had said. He laughed at the story to show her that he didn't believe it for a minute.

"Can you believe that he said that? You'd never do that I know. We'll find a place for all of our things here," Theta said.

Arkytior looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she remained silent and only gave him a nervous laugh in response. Even Theta knew that meant that she was hiding something.

"Is something wrong?" Theta asked.

"Theta, I was kind of thinking that your furniture was a little too . . . used for my tastes," Arkytior said as she kept smiling nervously at him.

Theta knew then that Koschei had been right. She wanted to get rid of his furniture! Anger flared up in him, and he used every bit of willpower at his command to keep it under control. He didn't want to start a fight with her. He really didn't. Maybe he could learn to live without a few things here and there.

"I'm sorry. I know that probably makes you angry, but I didn't mean to. I would just like to make things look nice. It would look much nicer in here with some of my things here and there," Arkytior said.

"Just do whatever you think is best, Ari," Theta said as he held back from what he really wanted to say.

"You're not fooling me, Theta. I've known you most of your life. You're mad. You don't want to hurt me so you're keeping it to yourself, and I love you for that. I really do. However, you should just tell me the truth. I want us to be honest with each other," Arkytior said.

"I don't want to start a fight especially not this soon after our marriage. I . . . ," Theta said as he stopped talking and looked away from her.

"What is it?" Arkytior asked.

"I don't want to drive you away. I don't want to lose you if you see the real me," Theta said.

Arkytior laughed at him and then hugged him. He looked at her in surprise as she gave him a gentle kiss.

"I've known you all of your life, and I was your best friend until we became something more than friends. That means that I already know all of your dirty little secrets, Theta Sigma. I know exactly what you're thinking at all times, and I know what you're going to say even before you do. Do you really think that I entered into this marriage blind without knowing all of your faults? I'm not going to leave you, Theta. I'm certainly not going to do it over something like this. Now tell me how you really feel. I appreciate you trying to spare my feelings, but just tell me the truth," Arkytior insisted.

"I don't want to lose my furniture or anything else of mine. I don't see why I should have to just because you don't like it. It's still mine, and I think that you should respect that. Why can't we just have all of our things in here together? You can have your things, and I can have mine," Theta said.

"Thank you. Do you see? I like it that you were honest with me. Now here's what I have to say about it. I'm going to try my best to live with your things being here too even though I would prefer to have many of them sent out to be recycled into something that someone would actually appreciate owning. I really am going to try because you were honest with me," Arkytior said.

"You're good. You just gave me what I wanted, and yet you got your point across and subtly insulted me at the same time. You're being so nice about that I can't even get mad. You should become a diplomat someday, Ari. You'd be good at it," Theta said as he kissed her.

"Thank you, Theta. I think," Arkytior said with a small laugh as she kissed him back.

Despite this though, Theta came back the next day to find that Arkytior had used her one day that she was free of classes to move all of her things in while he was away at school all day. He quickly noticed that most of his things were gone, and his face turned red as he tried not to get angry. He really tried.

"I thought that you were going to try living with them," Theta said slowly so he wouldn't lose his temper.

"I did. I lasted a whole day. I'm really surprised that I lasted that long," Arkytior said.

Theta couldn't speak because he was so angry. He was really, really trying not to get into a fight with her because he didn't want to start their marriage out that way. He had to admit that it was also because he loved her so much. He didn't want to yell at her or hurt her in any way. He really wanted to just let this whole thing go. He was trying very hard to do just that.

"I'm sorry. I really did try, but I couldn't keep that horrible couch or that raggedy looking rug. Don't worry though. I didn't throw anything away. I had it all sent to your parents' house. So nothing's gone. It's just not here," Arkytior said.

He stood there in silence. He was afraid to say anything for fear of starting an argument.

Arkytior could see him struggling with his anger so she said, "Just let me have it, Theta. I know you want to. I may get mad, but it'll be alright. It's okay. You don't have to hold it in around me."

"I'm . . . fine. Everything's fine," Theta said as he hugged her.

"No, it's not. Tell me how you feel," Arkytior encouraged him.

"I feel fine," Theta said with a fake smile.

"You're hopeless. I do appreciate that you don't want to fight though. I really do," Arkytior said as she kissed him.

There was a knock on the door then, and Arkytior opened it to see a strange man standing there. He looked vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place his face.

"Arkytior?" the man asked.

"Yes and you are?" Arkytior asked as something about him continued to tug at her memory.

"Braxiatel? What are you doing here?" Theta asked in a clearly unhappy and worried tone.

His anger with Arkytior was completely gone now as he focused all of his attention on trying to find out what his brother had come here about. His brother had been largely absent for most of his life due to preserving his collection of literature, art, and other assorted objects from all over the universe. He had devoted his life to creating one massive storehouse of everything that he considered irreplaceable so that it could be preserved in the event of some kind of universal cataclysm.

In a way, that collection summed up his brother in a nutshell. He was always thinking ahead and planning for any eventuality. He never did anything without a reason, and the reason was usually something that benefited him in some way. What benefited Brax didn't always benefit everybody else though not that he had ever been overly concerned with the welfare of others.

That was why he was worried about him being here now. He had never taken much of an interest in Theta's life before so why was he suddenly so interested in it now. He was worried that Brax might be up to something no good. The fact that he was already so interested in Arkytior was really setting off alarm bells and worrying him even more.

"I'm Theta's brother, Braxiatel. I don't blame you for not recognizing me. The last time that I saw you was when you were a little girl. I knew though that you were the one for him even back then. He couldn't have picked anyone better," Braxiatel said as he kissed Arkytior's hand.

Arkytior wanted to like him because he was Theta's brother, but she didn't trust him. He was being way too charming and too nice. She felt as if he wanted something, and she had a feeling that whatever it was would be something that she wouldn't like. She immediately wanted him gone, and she could see from the expression on his face that Theta did too.

The fact that Theta barely talked about him and that what he did say wasn't that flattering was enough to tell her that she didn't want him anywhere around her. Brax's own behavior was only cementing that notion in her mind.

"Why are you here, Brax?" Theta asked warily.

"Does there have to be a reason? I came to see Arkytior. Mother told me that you had gotten married to her and that she was pregnant with a little girl. It shocked me that I had missed so much of your life. It made me realize that I had already missed out on a lot, and I was determined not to miss any more than necessary. So I decided to come here and meet your new bride," Brax said.

Dread seized Theta's hearts as he worried about what Brax might be up to. He knew one thing for certain. If Brax was here to do anything to hurt Ari, then not even the fact that he was his brother would save him from him.

"You had a long time to get to know her. Why show so much interest now?" Theta asked suspiciously.

"She wasn't your wife then, and you always said that she wasn't anything more than a friend. Apparently that wasn't quite true though, was it?" Brax said.

"Theta has always had trouble expressing his feelings," Arkytior said.

"Yes, but I can't imagine why in your case. I should think that Theta would jump at the opportunity to marry someone as sweet and lovely as you are," Brax said.

"Thank you," Arkytior said as she faked a smile.

Now she really didn't want this man around her. He was after something for sure.

"Well, can I come in?" Brax asked as he continued to stand in the doorway.

"Of course," Arkytior said against her better judgment.

"Do you have something to eat? I'm afraid that I've come a long way to see you, and I'm simply starving," Brax said as soon as he came into the room and shut the door.

"I don't have anything but jelly babies. I'll have to go get something else. I'll be back soon," Theta said as he started to leave.

"You and your Earth foods. I'll wait right here and talk to your beautiful new wife until you get back," Brax said as Theta left the room.

As soon as Theta was gone, Brax said to Arkytior, "I know your secret."

"What?" Arkytior asked in surprise and sudden fear.

"I know about your powers, Arkytior," Brax said.

"What powers?" Arkytior asked as she started to shake from worry.

"I'm talking about the powers that you've received from the Vortex. Don't try to deny that you have them. I have evidence. I have video of you using them to defeat a snake creature that had taken over your mind," Brax said referring to her defeat of the Mara.

"How? Where were the recording devices?" Arkytior asked.

"It doesn't matter where. All that matters is that I have evidence that shows what you can do," Brax said.

"What is this about? Do you want to have me locked away?" Arkytior asked in a frightened voice as she shook in terror now.

"Oh, no. Of course not, Arkytior. I would never do that to my brother. Not unless I had to. You see I'll make sure that no one knows about your little secret for a price. I want you to use your powers to make sure that a certain peace conference goes the way that it should. The Daleks are threatening to attack it, and they probably will if someone doesn't stop them. I want you to wipe out the Daleks for me if they try it," Brax said.

"I don't know how. I can't use my powers on a whim. I can only use them when I get very emotional and even then they're not really under my control. I can't help you," Arkytior said.

"Can't or won't? If you won't help me, then I'll expose you to the High Council or worse the Celestial Intervention Agency. They'll probably have you put in some secret lab to see what gives you your powers. You'll never see the light of day again," Brax threatened.

"Why are you doing this to me? I've never done anything to anyone. I never would. I just want to live in peace," Arkytior said as she began to tear up.

"I won't bother you at all, Arkytior, if you'll just do as I say. I want you to come to the peace conference with me and destroy the Daleks if they show up. Then you'll never see me again unless I have need for your special abilities once more. Just do as I ask, and no one will ever need to know about you and what you can do. Especially Theta," Brax said.

"You want me to work for you, is that it?" Arkytior asked.

"Yes, the Web of Time must be maintained at all costs, and sometimes the rules need to be broken in order to maintain it and keep Gallifrey safe. It's my job to go the extra mile in order to protect our world and its best interests. I need you to help me in this and other special cases, and in return I'll keep your secret safe from everyone. You can't ask for more than that, can you?" Brax asked.

"I can ask to be left alone in peace. I don't know how to use my powers. If I try to use them, they could go out of control and do serious damage. Just leave me alone before I do something terrible," Arkytior said.

"I won't leave you alone though, Arkytior. You will do as I say, or I'll tell everyone exactly what you can do. That will be the end of you, your mother, and Theta. Do you really want that to happen? Do you want Theta and your mother to die or worse?" Brax asked.

"Leave me alone!" Arkytior screamed.

"No, I won't. I'll never leave you alone until you do what I want," Brax said firmly.

Arkytior began to glow with the power of the Vortex as she became filled with anger now. She was not going to let anyone push her around this way.

"You will leave me alone, and you'll forget everything that you know about my powers. You will also destroy any evidence that you have of me using my powers," Arkytior commanded Braxiatel as she used her powers to attempt to control his mind.

"Yes. I'll do as you say," Brax said in a hollow, lifeless voice.

"You'll never come to see me again. If I ever see you again, I won't be so merciful next time," Arkytior said.

"Yes. I will obey," Brax said.

"Leave!" Arkytior said in a cold voice.

Braxiatel left then, and Arkytior's powers faded. She shook as she realized what she had done. She had used her powers for the first time since she had become Theta's girlfriend. She had never used them once in all of the time since then because being with Theta made her feel happy and safe.

Now she had been forced to use them in order to protect herself. She hadn't wanted to. She was just happy that she had been able to keep control over them. She had been so tempted to wipe Braxiatel out of existence. She couldn't do that to Theta though. She hadn't hurt anyone, but she had used her powers to control someone else's mind. Even though she had to in order to protect Theta and her mother, she still didn't feel right about that. She didn't believe in violating another person's mind that way, and it made her feel sick inside that she had done so even in a good cause.

She began to feel the urge to become the old, introverted version of herself again, and she had to fight the temptation to regress back to that persona. She was not going to let Braxiatel turn her back into her old self again. He would win if she allowed him to do that, and she wasn't about to let him. She was not going to become a victim of Braxiatel or anyone else. From now on, she would just have to be sure to never use her powers again. Then there should be no problems, should there?

Braxiatel smiled to himself as he walked away. He pulled out the Vortex Shield that had protected him from Arkytior's abilities and smiled. He had gotten the answers that he needed.

Arkytior would not be able to be used by the enemies of the Time Lords against them no matter what they did. Furthermore, she would protect his brother even when pushed to the breaking point. He had proven to himself that she was no danger to anyone and so he would let her live in peace just as she requested.

Brax didn't get far though before he ran into a problem. Or rather before he ran into Koschei's fist. Koschei had come to see if Theta had lost all of his things yet and to gloat about it if he had. He had come just in time to see Brax leaving the room and the look on Arkytior's face as he did. He then saw the smug smile on Brax's face afterwards and knew that something had happened. He knew who Brax was and what he was capable of so he knew that punching him was probably the least that he deserved if he had done something to Ari.

Before Brax could get up off of the floor, Koschei grabbed him by the throat and held him up off of the ground with one hand. As Brax started to protest, he let his eyes bore into Brax's; and he quickly hypnotized him. He had been practicing this technique for a long time in secret, and he smiled at how well he had managed to pull it off on the first try as Brax fell under his control in moments. This time Brax had nothing to protect him from mental domination.

"What did you do to Ari? Tell me now," Koschei commanded.

After Brax told him, it was all that Koschei could do to keep himself from crushing the man's skull. He was furious and worried for Arkytior at the same time. He didn't want her progress to be set back by this fool.

"You are to do exactly as Ari told you. You will destroy all evidence that you have against her. You will then forget about her powers and never visit her again. If you don't do as I say, I will kill you slowly and painfully. I will then kill all of your remaining regenerations each in a new and more exciting manner. Do you understand?" Koschei said.

"Yes," Brax said.

"Yes, what?" Koschei prodded with an amused smile on his face.

"Yes, Master," Brax said.

"Very good. I like the sound of that. Now go. You will snap out of your trance as soon as you have destroyed the evidence and disabled any monitoring devices that you have watching Arkytior. Then you will forget about her powers and this meeting between us," Koschei commanded.

"Yes, Master," Brax said as he walked away.

"That's right. I am the Master. The Master of all of the walking garbage such as you," Koschei said as he watched Brax walk away in anger.

He would have killed him outright, but he knew that Ari would never approve. He would never do anything to lose her friendship so he had to hold his homicidal impulses in check for her sake.

He held his head in his hands for a moment before entering Arkytior's room as he tried to calm himself. It was times like this when something extremely stressful had occurred that he found it the hardest to ignore the drums. In fact in such cases as those the drums only added to his aggravation and distress and almost goaded him on into doing something far worse than he ordinarily would.

Once he had regained control over himself, he entered Arkytior's room to find her shaken and looking pale. He immediately rushed to her and held her tightly as she began to cry.

"I know what he did, but I dealt with him. He won't bother you any more I promise. Your secret is safe, Ari," Koschei reassured her.

"Thank you. I'm so glad that you were here. I thought that my powers had worked on him, but obviously they didn't. That just shows how unpredictable they are. I told him that I couldn't control them, and I was right," Arkytior said.

"You can control them just fine as long as people like that aren't around. Just promise me that this won't set you back. You're having a good life with Theta now, and I don't want you to lose the happiness that you've worked so hard for over an insect like Brax," Koschei said.

"I won't. I'm good, Koschei. I'm not letting anyone take any of this away from me. I'd die first before I let anyone take this life that I've been waiting so long for away from me," Arkytior promised him.

"Good. Now tell me. Did you get rid of all of Theta's stuff yet? I don't see any of it around anywhere," Koschei said with a chuckle.

"Shut up!" Arkytior said with a huge grin as she hugged him tightly.

Theta walked in then with a confused look on his face. Brax was gone and Koschei was in his place. He hated himself for thinking it, but he hoped that Koschei had punched Brax out and made him leave. He would forgive him for that just this once if that was the case.

"Where did Brax go? I went to all of the trouble to get food, and he's left already," Theta complained.

Then he saw the look on Arkytior's face and said, "What did he do? I knew that he was up to something. I'll give him a piece of my mind if he did something to you."

"Don't worry. I already did that on behalf of both of us. He won't be bothering Ari again," Koschei said.

"What did you do?" Theta asked.

"I acquainted him with my fist. That convinced him to leave all of us alone. I know he's your brother, but I'm not sorry for doing it. He wanted Arkytior to sign some kind of prenuptial agreement, and he was trying to bully her into it while you were away. I came by to see you and caught him at it," Koschei lied.

He even surprised himself at how easily he had lied, but he knew that he was doing it to protect Arkytior so he didn't mind as much as he normally would.

"That sanctimonious little . . . ! I'm so sorry, Ari. Are you okay? I shouldn't have left you alone with him. I'm sorry!" Theta said as he embraced her.

"I'm okay. I never want to see him again though," Arkytior said firmly.

"Don't worry about it. You won't. I'm make sure that he doesn't get anywhere near you from now on. Just watch at him try to deny it when I confront him with it. That would be just like him. He's always doing things like this, and then lying about them," Theta said fuming.

"I wouldn't bother bringing it up. I think that I impressed upon him how unhappy that we both were with what he did," Koschei said.

"Yeah I guess you're right. Thank you, Koschei. Normally I don't condone violence, but in this case I'm willing to make an exception," Theta said with a grateful smile.

"I see that the furniture's gone," Koschei said with a grin as he quickly changed the subject.

"Yeah. Arkytior and I came to an agreement about that, and I let her send my furniture back to my mother's house," Theta said.

"Yes, that's exactly right. We both agreed on it," Arkytior said with a grin on her face.

"Sure. I believe you," Koschei said with a wicked smile.

"Good because it's absolutely one hundred percent true," Theta said in a loud voice.

"I'm going on my date with Ushas now. While I'm away, you should probably practice your lying, Theta. That one wasn't even believable enough to fool a Time Tot," Koschei said.

"Good luck, Koschei. I really think that you and Ushas are meant for one another," Arkytior said as she gave him a hug and whispered thank you in his ear.

After Koschei left, Theta said, "I'm sorry, Arkytior. After something like that, fighting over furniture just seems so inconsequential."

"Yeah, it does. I'm glad that you're nothing like him. Do you think he might be adopted? You and your mother are nothing like him," Arkytior said.

"I've often wondered that myself. Hey, do you think that Koschei is my real brother, and he was switched at birth with Brax? I could believe that," Theta said.

"I wish that was true. That would be wonderful. I know that I'd be proud to have him as a brother-in-law," Arkytior said.

She was still not quite over what had just happened, but she was at least able to handle it without falling to pieces. As long as Theta was around, nothing else seemed to matter. She believed that she could go through anything now as long as he and her friends were there alongside her.

Koschei left with a smile on his face even as he looked forward to his first date with Ushas. They had arranged with Arkytior to use her TT Capsule to go see the Constellation of Thascalos Dominus from the planet Seta. It was one of the Wonders of the Universe and seeing it from Seta gave you the best view of it.

It was quite easy for Ushas and Koschei to break into the museum where the Capsule was kept and take it without anyone noticing. Once they arrived on Seta, they took in the beauty of this breathtaking view of the universe together and stood there in silence for a moment just drinking it in with their eyes.

"Was this your idea?" Ushas finally asked after a long silence.

"No. Theta came up with it. He said that this place would be sure to impress you. Was he right?" Koschei asked.

"Thank you for not lying to me. I had a feeling that this came from Theta. It has his love for the natural beauty of the universe written all over it," Ushas said.

"Does that matter? I thought that it was a good idea even if it did come from Theta," Koschei said with a grin.

"No, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you're the one who brought me here not Theta. He's a good friend to you, isn't he? You make fun of him a lot, but it's because you love him, isn't it?" Ushas asked as she looked deeply into his eyes.

Koschei went for broke then as he said, "Yes. Like a brother. Not in the same way that I love you though."

Ushas smiled as she said, "We barely know each other. Yes, we've been acquaintances for a long time now, but we've never been what you'd call close."

"I'd like to change that. I think that you're the most beautiful sight here. You even put Thascalos to shame," Koschei said.

Ushas looked at him in surprise as she said, "Where did this newfound confidence around me come from? The other day you couldn't even talk to me."

"I guess I just realized from Arkytior and Theta just how important finding the right person can be. I see how they can improve your life and make you stronger with them than you could ever be by yourself. Theta's certainly done that for Ari," Koschei said.

Ushas' face brightened as she said, "I love how much you care about her. You really look after her. It's so sweet, and it really undermines that bad boy image that you usually project."

"Don't tell anyone. I have to maintain my credibility," Koschei said with a grin.

"I used to think that you were in love with her until recently. I can see that I was wrong though. She's more like family to you, isn't she?" Ushas asked.

"Yes, she's the most important person in my life other than my parents and Theta. I can't explain why, but I've just always had a strong connection to her ever since we first met. I feel as if she's a part of me somehow. I can't explain it, but that's how I feel," Koschei admitted.

"Like I said, I think it's sweet. It reminds me of my relationship with my sister, Kali, in a way. I always try to watch out for her and protect her. She's the older sister, but sometimes I feel like I am. She's always getting into trouble, and I have to try to either get her out of it or prevent her from getting into it in the first place. It doesn't make things any easier that she has these rapidly developing mental powers that she often can't control. That's one major difference between her and Ari. I have to try to protect her from herself and keep her powers from overwhelming her or getting her into even worse trouble than usual. Ari's so nice and quiet plus you'd never have a problem like that with her. You're in a much better position than I am. You would never believe what I have to go through," Ushas said.

_I may know more about that than you think._ Koschei thought to himself but said nothing.

She was right in one respect. Ari was a nice person and would never cause anyone trouble on purpose so there was a major difference between her and Kali. Otherwise Usha and Koschei certainly had the problem of trying to take care of an extremely powerful person and keep them out of trouble in common whether Ushas realized it or not.

"I don't mind what I have to go through as much as you might think though. She's my sister, and I love her. I'd do anything for her," Ushas said.

"I wonder if she appreciates just how truly wonderful you really are. I wonder if anyone does," Koschei said.

Ushas smiled an even wider grin now as she said, "You're quite the charmer, aren't you?"

"I can be but it helps if I really mean it. I do mean it with both of my hearts, Ushas. I see how wonderful you are, and what you've just told me only adds to that impression," Koschei said.

"I – I really don't know you that well. You're really making me want to kiss you though, and it's becoming very hard for me to come up with a reason not to," Ushas said.

"Why are you fighting it for?" Koschei asked.

"I don't know you well enough yet that's why, and you do have a bad boy reputation that you seem to enjoy. I just don't want to enter into a relationship that will end with me having my hearts broken," Ushas said with complete honesty.

"I'd never hurt you," Koschei said.

"I want to believe that. I really do. Your friendship with Theta and Ari does vouch for you, but I'd like to date you more before I go any further with you. I do like what I see so far though. I definitely do. How about we have another date next week? I'll pick the place this time and let you know where it is later," Ushas said.

"You've got it," Koschei said with a huge smile on his face.

Ushas smiled at his enthusiasm and kissed him on the cheek. That was the furthest that she was willing to go for now, but it was a start. It let him know that she was truly interested in following up on their relationship further.

Koschei blushed and looked down on the ground in embarrassment. Ushas laughed as she saw this hidden side of him again. She knew that either he was a very good liar, or he was letting her see the secret vulnerable side of himself that he kept hidden from everyone else. She would have to date him more to find out which of those was the truth.

She thought that he was worth it.

**Next: I'm going to slip way ahead in time for the next chapter to tell the story of the worst time in Arkytior and Theta's life. This is the story of what happened to the Doctor after Arkytior 'died' and became Rose Tyler. What did the Doctor go through immediately afterward, and how did it all lead to him becoming the wanderer through time and space that we all know now. Also I'm going to show how her death affected everyone else in our cast from Koschei to Cliodna to Persephone and how it ripped all of their lives apart and led to life changing circumstances for all of them that only the return of Rose Tyler could fix centuries later.**

**Don't worry. I'm not leaving behind the story that you've been following up until now. I'm just skipping ahead to show the end result of it all. How we get there is still going to be the focus of this series though. I hope that you'll continue to enjoy the ride in the chapters ahead.**


	15. The Worst Day

CHAPTER 15

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**This story occurs almost a hundred years after the events of the first fourteen chapters and shortly before the Doctor and Susan leave Gallifrey. The part of the story that talks about K'anpo and the flower is not mine but comes from the classic Who story The Time Monster. I incorporated it into this story because the Doctor described it as having happened on the worst day of his life. **

THE WORST DAY

"Grandfather, are you alright? I've been talking to you for the last fifteen minutes, and you haven't moved a muscle in that entire time," Susan asked the Doctor in a loud voice.

"Eh? What? What was that, Susan?" the Doctor asked her in a distracted voice.

"I wanted to know if you were alright, Grandfather?" Susan asked in a slightly irritated voice.

"I'm fine, Susan. I was just lost in thought. That's all. Go on. I'm listening," the Doctor said.

Susan sighed as she started her story all over again about how she was doing at the Academy. He had asked what grades she was making there and then completely zoned out halfway through her conversation. He had been doing that a lot lately, but she couldn't get too angry at him for it.

She knew why he did it. He was thinking about her grandmother again. He was lost in some of memory of her once more. It was getting so that the past was more his home than the present. She was afraid that she was losing him, and she didn't know what to do about it.

She knew that she wasn't about to give him up without a fight though. She had already lost her grandmother, and there was no way that she was going to lose him as well. In a way though, she had already lost him. She had lost the fun, happy person that she had known since she was a child the day that her grandmother died, and she was beginning to think that she would never get him back.

She had always been very close to both of her grandparents and usually spent a lot of her time with them. She preferred them to her parents because they were warm and loving while her parents were more emotionless and cold. She wasn't just named after her grandmother but also had a similar personality to her as well. She was like her in many ways actually including sharing her love of humanity. Her grandmother preferred to call her Susan instead of Arkytior because she liked human names better than Gallifreyan ones. She decided that she liked the name Susan better as well and used it instead of her original name her entire life. Her grandmother had given that name to her after all so that made it important and special to her especially now.

Her grandfather had started to fall apart a few days ago after her grandmother was killed by the Daleks while saving the Earth from them. She was actually with her grandfather the day that it happened. She had to stand by helplessly and watch in horror as he reacted to her death the very moment that it occurred while he felt it through their link together.

She was talking to him when he suddenly stiffened and then began to scream. She called for help as he continued to scream in intense agony. She had never heard such pain in her life, and she knew that it was much more than something physical. This pain was coming from deep within his soul. It was like she could actually see his hearts being ripped apart in front of her as he felt her grandmother die.

Then as if seeing all of that hadn't been enough, she saw him actually physically change his appearance in front of her. It wasn't a regeneration but more like his current body just withered up and started to fall apart within minutes after her grandmother died.

She saw his hair turn white and his body rapidly age while his skin wrinkled up. This shocked her because Time Lords never aged unless they wanted to. She couldn't imagine him wanting to age like this though. He had become an old man who had to use a cane to help him walk and who had problems with his hearing. Furthermore, he had turned from warm and loving to irritable and angry overnight. She could still see moments of love here and there from him though that told her that he wasn't completely gone. Not yet anyway.

She was told afterwards by the physicians that looked at the Doctor that sometimes this sort of thing happened to a Time Lord when their link was violently severed in such a way. Their bodies would fall apart and be ravaged by the loss of the link in just such a way she had been told. She didn't believe them. She believed it was because Arkytior had meant everything to him and without her he had given up.

That was made clear to her the day that Koschei and Ushas visited the Doctor. She was staying with him now while she tried to help him recover from her loss so she was a witness to everything that occurred between them.

"Doctor, I have reason to believe that what happened to Arkytior wasn't an accident," Koschei said as soon as he entered the house.

"Of course it wasn't an accident! The Daleks killed her. I know that. I haven't lost my mind just because my body has changed you know," the Doctor said in an angry voice.

"No, I'm talking about that I think that someone arranged the whole thing. I have reason to believe . . . ," Koschei started to say when he was interrupted by the Doctor.

"I don't want to hear it! She's gone. I know that. I felt that. I felt every moment of it as she died and was ripped away from me. I don't want to hear any more about what happened that day! She's gone, and she's never coming back. A part of me has died with her, Koschei. Don't you understand that? I'm dead inside! Just leave me alone and quit talking about it. I don't want to hear about it anymore. Just go away and leave me in peace," the Doctor said in a combination of anger and sadness.

"He's not listening to you, Koschei. He didn't hear a word that you said. He's too far gone to help us now," Ushas said.

"You're right. He's not the same man that I knew anymore. My friend is dead in all but name. That's something else that I owe them. Let's go, Ushas," Koschei said.

"What's happening?" Susan demanded as she followed the two of them outside the room and out of the Doctor's earshot.

"I don't think that you're safe here anymore, Susan. They've already killed Arkytior. They may come after you next if they think that you have the same powers that she did," Koschei said.

"Powers? What powers? I don't know what you're talking about," Susan said in confusion.

"Susan, you may need to leave in a hurry. If you start to feel as if anyone is after you and the Doctor, they probably are. I want you to promise me that if you feel as if your life is in danger that you'll take him and hide yourselves somewhere for a while. At least until things are safe," Koschei said.

"How will I know that things are safe?" Susan asked.

"You'll know, Susan, when you hear that several people have been found dead. They'll be the ones who killed your grandmother," Koschei said.

"I don't understand. She was killed by the Daleks, wasn't she?" Susan asked.

"That's what they wanted you to think. Arkytior was sent there to Earth at the same time that the Daleks were on purpose so that she would be killed. It was all pre-arranged and meant to look like an unfortunate coincidence when it was anything but that. Your grandmother was murdered by a shadowy organization within the government called the Celestial Intervention Agency in a planned hit, Susan. I'm sorry to have to tell you that but it's true," Koschei said.

"Are you sure about this?" Susan asked in shock.

"Yes, I am. I've unraveled the entire conspiracy. It's my fault, Susan. It's all my fault," Koschei said sadly.

"No, it's not. You had no way of knowing that even a prat like Brax would do something that evil to his own brother," Ushas said as she put her arm around him to comfort him.

"What did he do?" Susan asked in wide eyed surprise.

"He told them her secret, Susan. He told the Celestial Intervention Agency that Arkytior had the power of the Vortex," Koschei said.

Susan looked at him in absolute astonishment as she said, "I knew that she had a secret. I always knew that she was hiding something from me my whole life by the way that she would sometimes be so sad and distant for no reason. She would always try to act like there was nothing wrong and pretend to be happy for my sake but I knew. Why didn't she tell me? I could have helped her. At least she would have had someone to talk to that way, someone who would have been there for her."

"She was too frightened to tell anyone. The only reason that I found out was by accident. It seems that she had good reason to hide her abilities. I just wish that I had been more helpful to her. I should have killed Braxiatel the moment he found out! If I had, your grandmother would still be alive. I won't make that mistake a second time. None of those responsible will survive, Susan. I promise you that. The less you know about the details of that though the better. Good bye, little one," Koschei said as he kissed Susan's forehead.

"Don't do this. She wouldn't want you to," Susan pleaded.

"I'm doing this for her and for everyone else like you that they may come after in the future if I don't stop them now. I know that she wouldn't approve, Susan, but I can't let that stop me. They took her from all of us that needed her and depended on her so much, and they will not be allowed to get away with that. They think that she's nothing. That she doesn't matter. They're going to find out that they're wrong," Koschei said as he and Ushas left the house at last.

As Susan had been talking to Koschei and Ushas, the Doctor sat alone remembering what he had done right after he had been released from the care of his physicians. It was the worst day of his life, and he wanted to find the meaning of it all. He wanted to know why this had been allowed to happen to him.

So he went where he had always gone whenever he was troubled in his life. He went to see K'anpo Rimpoche, the old hermit who lived on the side of a mountain behind the house where the Doctor used to live before he went to the Academy.

He needed to speak to K'anpo now more than ever because this was truly the worst day of his life. He had never needed to listen to his mentor's advice and wisdom more than he did at that moment. With Susan's help, he made it up the mountain to see K'anpo in order to find a reason to go on. He knew that K'anpo was supposed to know the meaning of life according to rumor, but he had never told him what it was in all of the years that he had been visiting him. He could only hope that he could impart some of that meaning to him now.

When he arrived, he poured his heart out to K'anpo about what had happened to Arkytior. He told him the whole story and explained to him what had happened to him and how it had felt when Arkytior died and their link was severed. He was so sad that he couldn't even cry even though he wanted to. He desperately wanted to more than anything as a way to let the misery inside of him out. Then once he had finished, he waited silently to see what K'anpo's answer would be.

K'anpo never spoke. He just pointed to a simple yellow flower growing beside him called a sarlain.

The Doctor hadn't understood what the flower had to do with anything at first. Then he saw it the way that he was sure that K'anpo must have seen it. He could now see that it was bright and shining and filled with color. All of the way up the mountain to reach K'anpo everything had looked gray and black and cold. It had matched his mood up until that point. Now when he looked around him after having looked at the flower, everything that had looked lifeless before was suddenly filled with color and vibrancy. Something about seeing that flower still surviving despite the cold and the snow that covered the mountainside had given him renewed hope.

He had been thinking about that moment ever since then. He had been trying to wrap his mind around the meaning of it.

Suddenly he heard Susan start screaming from outside the room, and he ran to see what was going on. He found several men in his living room trying to drag Susan away with them.

"What is the meaning of this? How dare you come into my home and try to abduct my granddaughter like this?!" the Doctor shouted.

"She has been deemed to be a possible threat by the High Council. She must be taken for testing immediately to determine her threat level," one of the men said.

"Nonsense! You were never sent by the High Council. Who are you really, and what are you up to?" the Doctor demanded.

"Kill him! Then take the girl and see if she has the power. She may be of great use to us if she does," the leader of the men commanded the others.

The Doctor moved much faster than his current physical appearance would suggest as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and subjected the men to a high-pitched noise that made them hold their hands to their ears in agony. While they were distracted, the Doctor grabbed Susan and ran out the door with her.

He knew that the two of them were fugitives now, but he didn't care. He wouldn't let Susan be dragged off to be experimented on just because some jumped up official had gotten it in their mind that she had some kind of power. He wasn't going to stand by and let bad things happen anymore. He was going to do something about them starting now.

First he was going to save Susan and make sure that she had a happy life somewhere safe from the prying eyes of whoever was out to get her. Then he was going to help others. He would make sure that what had happened to him would never happen to anyone else ever again.

He would fight back against the forces of corruption and evil throughout the universe wherever he found them, and he would save others from being sacrificed to their twisted ambitions as Arkytior was to the hatred of the Daleks. Wherever he found that the threads of the Web of Time were broken, he would mend them. He would turn the universe into the kind of place where what happened to his wife would never happen to another person's loved one ever again even if it took the rest of his lives.

She had called him the Doctor, and he was finally going to live up to that name. He was going to be the man who made people better.

The Doctor and Susan ran to the repair shop where Arkytior's TARDIS (a term that Susan herself had popularized for calling the TT Capsule) had been sent to have it fixed up by the museum that now owned it outright now that she was gone. The Doctor hadn't wanted them to have it in the first place since it had been hers, and he needed a quick way off of the planet before they could be found so he couldn't think of a better way off of Gallifrey than to take Ari's ship.

The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to break into the shop and started to get into what he was sure was Ari's TARDIS. Susan went inside of it first, and he was just about to go in himself when he saw Cydonia suddenly appear out of nowhere. He couldn't say that he was too surprised to see her here. It seemed that she had a knack of always being there when he needed her somehow.

"Doctor," Cydonia said.

"What? What is it?" the Doctor asked.

"Not that one. Take this one. This one is Arkytior's. That's the one you want," Cydonia said as she pointed at another TARDIS.

"Thank you, my dear. How did you know? I have to admit that they all look alike to me," the Doctor said as he gestured to Susan to move into the other TARDIS.

"I've been keeping track of it since they moved it here. I knew that you would need it," Cydonia said.

"Someday you're going to have to tell me how you know these things. Good bye, Cydonia. I hope that I'll see you again someday," the Doctor said as he hugged her.

"Trust me, Doctor. You will. You'll be seeing a lot of me," Cydonia said as she kissed his cheek.

The Doctor and Susan dematerialized the TARDIS and quickly left as Cydonia quickly disappeared before she could be found in the shop. She silently wished the Doctor well and wondered if this particular version of her would ever see him again. She certainly hoped so.

While the Doctor and Susan made their escape, Koschei and Ushas found their way to the Celestial Intervention Agency's secret headquarters buried deep within the oldest levels of the Capitol. They made their way inside using the secret entrance that Koschei had managed to find out about by breaking into their records. He had been planning this for days now, and this was where all of his hard work was about to pay off.

"You don't have to do this, Ushas. You'll become a renegade too if you do," Koschei said as he gave her one last chance to back out.

"They killed my sister, Koschei, and now they've killed Arkytior. This has to end. Someone has to bring them down before they become too powerful. If they ever got in control of Gallifrey, they would make everyone's life a living nightmare. I'm in all the way," Ushas said.

Koschei smiled at her as he kissed her passionately. He had never loved her more than he did in that moment. They both took a deep breath, and then they used the hidden doorway to make their way inside.

They actually managed to make their way into the heart of the base before being found out. By then, it was too late. For the Celestial Intervention Agency that is.

The two of them were quickly surrounded by several agents of the CIA as Braxiatel himself suddenly appeared before them. He was accompanied by a woman that neither of them had ever seen before.

"What did you think that you would accomplish by breaking in here like this, Koschei? Did you really think that just the two of you by yourselves would be able to kill all of us?" Braxiatel asked with a smug grin on his face.

"Yes, actually. In fact, I've already killed all of you. You're just too stupid to realize it yet," Koschei said.

"Oh, really? How exactly did you manage to accomplish that?" Braxiatel asked with that smug smile still plastered all over his face.

"Show them, my dear," Koschei said.

Ushas held up a capsule filled with Spectrox Toxaemia to show the orders with a smile on her face. Once she would have been horrified to even be holding such a thing much less threatening someone with it. That all changed when her sister died.

"This is Spectrox Toxaemia. It's a substance found on Androzani Minor. When first exposed to it in its unrefined state, it causes the subject to experience blistering and itchiness in the contact area. This then leads to cramps and spasms that spread outwards from the infected area. Then there is paralysis, hallucinations, and finally death. Even Time Lords are not immune to its effects. Do any of you feel a burning sensation in your nostrils yet?" Ushas said with an evil grin on her face.

"What have you done?!" Braxietal screamed.

"We just exposed this entire base to it. I pumped it into the ventilation system the minute that I arrived here. You've all been breathing it for several minutes now, and it's gotten into your nose and lungs. Basically, we've just condemned all of you to a slow and painful death. Don't all thank me at once," Koschei said as he started to laugh.

"You're insane!" Braxietal shouted.

"So I've been told, yes. However, I've given myself and Ushas the cure so I'll survive and you won't. Now I know what you're thinking. You'll just regenerate. You're right. You just might survive it that way. Maybe. That is if I allow any of you to live long enough to regenerate that is!" Koschei said as he pulled his Tissue Compression Eliminator out of his pocket and aimed it at them.

He began to fire on all of the CIA agents around him and killed several of them instantly by shrinking them down to the size of dolls. Ushas joined him by using a staser on several of the agents near her. The two of them managed to permanently kill several CIA agents between them within the first few minutes.

Brax and the unknown woman managed to make their way behind an overturned table that would provide them with some limited protection for a while. He watched in amazement as the two renegades by themselves managed to cut down half of the people in the base in less than ten minutes. His brother's friends had certainly proven to be much better fighters than he would have ever given them credit for.

"Koschei, Ushas, why don't we make a deal?" Braxiatel shouted from behind the table.

"You killed my friend! She was a woman that I considered a sister, and you arranged for her to die just because she had powers that she never asked for or wanted. They were powers that she never would have used to hurt anyone. She was a kind and gentle person and didn't deserve what you did to her. I won't let you do that to anyone else. I know what you've been doing, Braxiatel. You've been kidnapping people that you found out had extraordinary abilities from throughout the universe even Gallifrey and experimenting on them in order to learn the secrets of their powers so that you could give them to yourselves. You didn't care if your experiments wound up killing them in the process. That's what you did to Ushas' sister, Kali. You kidnapped her and took her to a secret base off world to do your experiments on her once you found out about her mental powers. Only you didn't count on her being powerful enough to escape, did you? You still tracked her down and killed her though in the end. You and your little secret group always seem to win in the end somehow. Not anymore though. You've left a trail of death behind you, Braxiatel, and that ends here today. Today I'm bringing you and the rest of your little secret organization down. No more hiding behind everyone's back doing whatever you please. Today you're going to answer for what you've done!" Koschei shouted.

"Arkytior was too dangerous to herself and others to be allowed to exist, Koschei. She was like a mad dog that needed to be put down for the good of the community. As soon as I remembered the truth about her while under a mind probe recently, I realized just how dangerous she truly was because of the lengths that she inspired you to go to in order to protect her. Sooner or later she would have wound up killing all of us. I do what I do for the good of Gallifrey," Braxiatel said.

"So do I. I'm protecting people from fanatics like you including Susan. You were going to go after her too, weren't you? I saw her name in your files," Koschei accused him.

"She may potentially develop her grandmother's abilities. I could not allow her to grow up to become a threat to our world. She had to be tested to make sure if she were a potential threat or not. It doesn't matter at this point anyway. She's fled the planet along with my brother. We will have to send agents out to search the universe for her. We can't allow her to live to become a potential threat to us. We're still going to take care of her. That's as soon as we kill the two of you of course!" Braxiatel said.

A new wave of agents came running at the two renegade Time Lords now firing their stasers at them as the two of them returned fire with their own weapons while dodging all incoming fire. Koschei touched a button on a remote control, and his TARDIS suddenly materialized in the middle of the room in the form of a Greek pillar firing deadly bolts of energy everywhere.

"You can't win, Koschei. You might as well give up now before I call in more agents. If you give me the cure to the disease that you've given us, I'll see to it that your deaths are as painless as possible," Braxiatel said.

"You can't call anymore agents, Brax. I've blocked all of your communications systems with a special device on my TARDIS that prevents any transmissions from leaving this area. I've also sealed all of the exits to this secret headquarters of yours with deadlock seals from the outside just before I came in here. The only exit I left open was your secret one which I sealed once we got inside. None of your people are getting out of her alive, and no one is coming to help you, Braxiatel. It's over. I may not kill all of the CIA, but I've managed to make sure that everyone who had a hand in killing Arkytior is here in this room including you. I'm going to kill every one of you. So you see who's truly trapped now, don't you, Brax? I've been planning this for days, and I've left no way out for any of you. This is the end," Koschei said to Braxiatel as he laughed at him continuously.

"You'll die too. We'll kill both of you!" Braxietal shouted back at him in frustration.

"You can try. Bring it on!" Koschei said as he continued to laugh like a madman.

He had finally given into the drums at last as he fully expected to die here. His only regret was that Ushas was here with him. He would have rather her be anywhere but here at the moment.

"Don't worry about me. I wanted to do this with you. I wouldn't have come here if I hadn't wanted to. If this is the end, at least we went down fighting against a madman for the life of Ari's granddaughter. I'd say that's not too bad a way to go, is it?" Ushas said as she grinned at Koschei.

"Destroy them!" the woman with Brax finally said.

"Just who are you anyway?" Ushas asked.

"My name is Pandora. That isn't important though. What matters is this. It is you who are doomed here today. Doomed to fall to my power!" Pandora said as she shot twin blasts of energy towards the two renegades.

"You can't do that. You'll kill yourself. That body isn't powerful enough to contain your energies flowing through it. You're going to burn yourself out if you start using your powers that way," Brax admonished her.

"This body is dying now anyway of the disease so who cares? We will just have to step up the experiments on those that you have found with powers further so that we can find a proper host body for me that can handle my powers without burning out. I will need to be at full power if I am to lead you and your agency to victory over the High Council at last. Then you will be the true rulers of Gallifrey instead of the power behind the throne," Pandora said.

"With you as the Imperiatrix of course," Braxiatel said with a smile.

"Of course. It's too bad that you couldn't have captured the girl. She would have been the perfect vessel if she had powers," Pandora said as she continued to attack the two renegade Time Lords.

"We may bring her back to you yet," Braxiatel said.

"Don't count on it. I've already erased her name from your records so that no one else knows about her. The only ones left who know of her are in this room, and I'm going to take care of that right now," Koschei said.

"I think not. I've waited far too long to be reborn again to be stopped by someone as lowly as you. Now you will die," Pandora said as she sent a massive blast of energy headed straight towards Koschei.

Pandora sacrificed her host body doing so as it collapsed dead on the ground while she quickly hopped into a new body nearby. She considered the body's loss to be worth it if she could stop this threat to her plans now before it got too out of control.

Just before the massive blast of energy would have hit Koschei, Ushas pushed him aside and took the blast meant for him. She died instantly and fell to the ground.

"No!" Koschei screamed in rage.

"You brought it on yourself, Koschei. Accept it. It's over," Braxiatel said.

"Yes, it is over. For all of you! By the way, my name is not Koschei. Not after today. I am the Master, and you will obey me. I command you all to kill Braxiatel!" the Master shouted.

Several of the agents watching him turned on Braxiatel after being immediately hypnotized by the Master and shot Braxiatel down instantly. He fell to the ground near death as the Master then commanded the agents to fire on each other. Pandora's new host body fell as well, and she was left a bodiless wraith as all of the mentally enslaved agents finished each other off. She was forced to watch with rage as the Master picked up Ushas' body and put it in his TARDIS before setting an explosive charge that went off and destroyed the entire secret base as soon as his TARDIS dematerialized.

Luckily for Pandora, she had managed to reach the barely alive Braxiatel and used her powers to protect him from the destruction of the base. The two of them then escaped to go into hiding until many centuries later when they would try once again to take over the Time Lords but would be defeated by Lady President Romana and Leela although they were never aware of Brax's true role in those events.

After that, both of them disappeared from history with the destruction of Gallifrey in the Time War. Or did they?

As for the Master, he wept over Ushas' body and poured all of his remaining regenerations into her body as he brought her back to life with a kiss. She woke up with a smile at first which quickly turned into a frown. He could tell that something had changed in her. She wasn't the same as she was before. He began to wonder if he had sacrificed his lives for nothing.

"Ushas, are you alright?" the Master asked.

"Ushas is dead. She was a blind idealistic fool who couldn't even save her sister or her friend from being destroyed. She was useless so let her stay dead. I am no longer that person. From now on, I am the Rani. From now on, I'll do whatever it takes to keep myself alive and to further my own research. I'm going to find a way to turn back time, Koschei. Once I do, I'll bring my sister back. I'll make it so that none of this ever happened. I don't care what I have to do to accomplish that. Not anymore. I'm tired of being the universe's victim, Koschei. From now on, I will control it instead of letting it control me," the Rani said.

"It's not Koschei anymore. I am the Master," the Master said.

"Really? So you really decided to use that corny name that you came up with?" the Rani asked with a chuckle.

"So did you," the Master said defending himself.

"Mine isn't half as bad as yours. Never mind that. I need to go back to my TARDIS. A new day has dawned," the Rani said.

The two of them would go on to drift apart as they both became obsessed with their own goals and stopped associating with each other. There was no room left for love in either of their lives as they became more and more obsessed with power at least not for a long time anyway.

Cliodna seemed to lose everything all at once in the span of a few days. Arkytior's death seemed to be the domino that started a whole series of unfortunate events that led to her life being in ruins. Not only did Arkytior die, but the rest of her friends all became renegades and fled immediately afterwards. She was left with no one but her family, and even that was then taken from her.

Her daughter, Sirona, disappeared while on a vacation to Earth and was never found. She tried for several weeks afterwards to find her, but there was no trace of her. Cliodna sunk into a deep depression when she finally accepted that her daughter was lost forever, and only her husband Oisin was able to bring her back out of it.

That depression returned with a vengeance when she then lost Oisin to the Cybermen several months later, and not even her sister Selene could bring her out of it. Selene knew that Arkytior could have because she had always been able to make Cliodna feel better when she was down, but Arkytior was dead. Selene was helpless to prevent her sister's rapid decline as her new depression led her to go out into the universe to hunt down the Cybermen on a centuries' long quest for revenge that only ended when she decided to become human and hide herself in her beloved Scotland as a human child named Amelia Pond.

Persephone also became severely depressed for a long time after her daughter's death and wandered the universe in an attempt to forget what had happened. She eventually found herself in another universe entirely when she came to what would be called Pete's World. She had no way of knowing that one day she would meet her daughter again.

None of them had any way of knowing that the woman that they all had loved so much was alive and well on Earth that entire time. She was a newborn human infant now with the name of Rose Tyler.

One day though she would come back. Then she would change all of their lives for the better. If you had told the Doctor that this was going to happen one day, he wouldn't have been too surprised by this once he got over the fact that his wife was still alive.

He had always known that Arkytior had a gift for doing the impossible.

**Next: Our regular story returns as Arkytior and Theta start preparing for the baby to come, and Koschei goes on another date with Ushas and meets her sister, Kali. Let's just say that there's no love lost between the two of them. **


	16. The Sister of Evil

CHAPTER 16

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

THE SISTER OF EVIL

As Arkytior looked at her old crib that her mother had given her to reuse for Cassiopeia, she wondered about what would happen in her daughter's life. What would she be like when she grew up? Would she be happy? Who would she marry? Would she have children of her own?

She knew that it was pointless to wonder about such things now at this early a time in the child's existence, but she couldn't help thinking about it all the same. She had already developed a connection to Cassiopeia unlike any that she had ever felt with any other person in her life even Theta. She had never experienced anything like it before. She hadn't even seen her child, and yet she already felt unconditional love for her. It was somewhat irrational, and yet it was there all the same.

Theta came into the room carrying a box under his arm and stopped as he saw her smiling while she pressed her hand to the bulge in her stomach. He just stared at her for a long time without speaking. He just couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Arkytior finally noticed him standing there and smiled at him as she said, "I'm not that big yet, am I?"

"That's not why I'm staring at you, Ari. It's because you're just so beautiful. I've always thought that you were the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen. I honestly thought that there was no way that you could be more beautiful than you already were. I was wrong though. You've never been more beautiful in your life than you are right now at this moment," Theta said.

She walked up to him and kissed him passionately as she showed him just how much that his words had touched her. She had begun to feel a little self-conscious about her appearance lately, but he had quickly put her mind at ease.

"You always know the right things to say, Theta. Do you use those lines on all the girls or is it just me?" Arkytior joked.

"There are no others, Ari. There never have been. You know that," Theta said as he returned her kiss.

"What would you have done if I had never said that I loved you? What would have happened?" Arkytior asked.

"What kind of question is that? I'm thankful every night that it happened," Theta said as he kissed her neck.

She smiled at both his words and his actions as she said, "I know that. I'm just wondering what would have happened to you if I hadn't said that I loved you? Would you have eventually moved on to someone else?" Arkytior asked.

"It's like I said, Ari. There is no one else. I would have just gone through the rest of my life alone," Theta said with a serious expression on his face.

She smiled and was pleased to hear him say this. She knew however that one day he would find someone else after she was gone. She had already seen her. At least she knew though that in this moment of time that she was the only one that he had ever loved. That made all of the difference to her.

"I've already gotten clothes for Cassiopeia," Theta said as he showed Arkytior the huge box that he had brought with him.

"Where did you get these?" Arkytior asked as she took the box and looked at the clothes with joy. They were all well-made, but it was obvious that they were used.

"They belong to my mother. They were her old clothes from when she was a baby. She wanted you to have them, Ari. She's been saving these for years in case she ever had a daughter. She's pretty sure that she's not going to have one now so she decided to give these to you. She said that you were just like the daughter that she never had, Ari," Theta said.

"Thank you! Tell her thank you for me," Arkytior said happily.

"I've also managed to find some of my old baby toys. I'll get them and bring them over the next time I go back to my mother's house. I had a lot of roentgen bricks leftover too. Maybe I'll bring them. I'm sure that Cassiopeia will love playing with them as much as I did," Theta said.

"You and your bricks! You were still playing with those when I first met you. I'm sure she'll love them," Arkytior said.

"Who do you think the godparents of Cassiopeia should be?" Theta asked.

"I know who I want to ask. I'd like to ask Cliodna and Koschei," Arkytior said.

"I can't think of anyone better. That works for me. Hopefully, they'll both accept," Theta said.

"Speaking of Koschei, have you talked to him about his date with Ushas the other day yet?" Arkytior asked.

"No. I haven't. I have noticed that he's in a very good mood lately though so I assume that it went very well. He hasn't made a sarcastic comment to me at all since it happened. That has to be a good sign. Maybe she'll actually make him mellow. Can you imagine that? A nice Koschei!" Theta said with a chuckle.

"He's always nice to me," Arkytior said.

"Yeah, but he certainly isn't to anyone else. Cliodna is the same way. She's always nice to you, Ari, even when she's in some of her worst moods. I don't know how you do it," Theta said as he gave Arkytior a quick peck on the lips.

"I'm just nice to them. That's all," Arkytior said.

"So am I but yet they always seem to be surly towards me even on a good day," Theta said.

"That might be true for Koschei, but you know that it isn't for Cliodna. She loves you. I've seen her be very nice to you on several occasions, Theta," Arkytior said.

"Yeah but never for an entire day though. I've never gone through an entire day yet where she hasn't hit me or slapped me at least once. I just can't figure it out. Why does she do that?" Theta asked with a puzzled expression.

She thought about how childish and arrogant that Theta could be sometimes but said nothing except, "I have no idea, Theta."

"Me neither. It's just a mystery to me how someone as great and wonderful as I am could be treated that way," Theta said with a grin.

Oddly enough Cliodna chose that moment to knock on the door, and Theta couldn't help but smile at the coincidence of it. It was almost like she had radar.

As Arkytior let Cliodna in, Cliodna was smiling brighter than either of them had ever seen her smile in their lives. Theta wondered what had happened.

"Did someone give you happy pills or something? That's the only way that I can ever imagine you being this happy. You're usually so angry and grumpy all of the time," Theta said as he spoke his thoughts out loud.

Just as he made that comment to Cliodna, he immediately got socked in the arm for his trouble. That record wasn't in danger of being broken any time soon that was for sure. Even when she was happy, she still hit him.

"You'll have to pardon my husband, Cliodna. Sometimes he's an idiot," Arkytior said.

"Only sometimes?" Cliodna said.

"Ha ha! Why are you so happy?" Theta asked.

"That's what I came here to see you two about? I wanted you two to be the first to know. Well, you and Selene. I don't know how she found out but she did. She always knows everything I do somehow. It's like she's psychic or something," Cliodna said.

"The first to know what?" Theta asked as he tried to get her back on track.

"I have a boyfriend!" Cliodna said as she hugged them both together at the same time.

She hugged them a little bit too tightly in fact. Theta was starting to have trouble breathing.

"Cliodna! I can't breathe!" Theta said as he gasped for breath.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cliodna said as she let them both go.

Theta rubbed his arm with one hand now while he rubbed his ribs with the other one. Cliodna noticed this and said, "I'm so sorry, Theta. I don't know my own strength. I'm just so happy!"

Then she hugged him again and kissed him on the cheek. Both Theta and Arkytior looked at her in shock now.

"You must be happy. You're being nice to me. In fact, you're being downright sweet," Theta said.

Cliodna then punched him in the arm again as she said, "I'm always sweet!"

"I agree. Whatever you say, you're right! Please don't hit me!" Theta said.

"I'm sorry," Cliodna said as she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek once again.

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to get very jealous," Arkytior joked.

"I can't help it. I'm just so happy," Cliodna said as she hugged Arkytior now too.

"That's it! You keep her distracted, Arkytior. That way she won't remember to hit me anymore," Theta said.

"Who is this man who's got you so ecstatic?" Arkytior finally asked.

"His name is Oisin. I've never met anyone like him. We just had our first date last night, and it was just incredible. At first we just talked about each other and our lives for the first couple of hours, and then we just started kissing and kept doing it non-stop for the rest of the night. We never even went to sleep. Neither of us even noticed that it was daylight until around midday. I haven't slept in two days. Isn't it great?" Cliodna asked with a very big grin plastered all over her face.

"Now we know why she's acting so funny," Theta mouthed to Arkytior.

Cliodna elbowed him hard in the ribs, but the smile never left her face. As he screamed in pain, Arkytior just shook her head. He would never learn.

"I'm so happy for you, Cliodna. I think you've finally found your Theta," Arkytior said.

"He's much better than Theta. He's actually a mature responsible adult. No offense meant, Ari," Cliodna said.

"None taken," Arkytior said with a grin.

"Hey!" Theta protested.

As Cliodna turned to look at him with that goofy smile still plastered all over her face, she somehow looked even scarier than she usually did. He shivered in fear as he quickly shut up and became very quiet all of a sudden. A happy Cliodna was even worse than an unhappy one it seemed!

"Oh, come here, you silly man! You know I love you!" Cliodna said as she hugged him tightly again.

As Theta struggled to breathe, he began to wonder if he would be able to survive a happy Cliodna or not. He wasn't sure that his ribs could take it.

"I hope that Koschei is this happy over Ushas," Arkytior said.

"I think that he is. He certainly seems happy. He's even been nice to me lately. He said something about going out on another date with her tonight. This will be the deal breaker I think," Cliodna said.

"You mean Kali?" Arkytior asked knowingly.

"Yes. She usually drives all of Ushas' boyfriends away. If he can put up with her, then maybe they'll have a chance at a real relationship," Cliodna said.

"She doesn't just drive her boyfriends away. She drives everyone away. I don't even bother to go visit Ushas whenever she's around," Theta said.

"She does have a bit of an attitude problem," Arkytior said.

"A bit of an attitude problem?! She set fire to the shoes of the last man who tried to date her! I only like her as a friend, and she tried to do that to me once too. She's just scary. She even makes you look nice, Cliodna!" Theta said.

Cliodna slapped Theta in the face even as she kept smiling at him. As Theta yelled, Arkytior said, "I still can't imagine why she's always hitting you."

"It's a complete mystery to me," Theta said.

"What is? Life? Love? Relationships? All of the above?" Koschei asked flippantly from the doorway.

"How long have you been standing there? Furthermore, why did no one lock the door?" Theta complained.

"It was locked. You know that no lock can keep me out though, Theta. I always have my little ways of getting in," Koschei said as he showed them his own version of Theta's sonic screwdriver that he had recently come up with that used lasers instead.

"Koschei, how did it go with Ushas? I never did get to ask you?" Arkytior asked.

"It was wonderful," Koschei simply said with a warm smile on his face.

"I'm glad. I hope that it works out for you. You deserve it," Arkytior said.

"Thank you, Ari. You've always been my very best friend," Koschei said.

Theta cleared his throat loudly and Koschei asked, "What?"

"I thought that I was your best friend," Theta said.

"He's so needy," Koschei said.

"He's whiny too. He makes such a fuss over a few little love taps," Cliodna said.

"What is this? Pick On Theta Day?" Theta asked indignantly.

"You know that sounds like a good idea. Maybe we could make that a monthly event," Koschei joked.

"Monthly? I vote for making every day Pick On Theta Day!" Cliodna said.

"For you, that is every day!" Theta complained.

Theta screamed in the next second as he received yet another punch in the arm. Arkytior wondered when he would ever learn.

Later on that day, Koschei went to Ushas' house for his second date with her. Ushas opened the door and actually looked at him in surprise when she saw him standing there.

"You actually showed up. I never thought you would. I mean you actually know what my sister's like already. Theta had to have told you," Ushas said.

"Yes, he did, but I've still come anyway. She's not going to scare me away, Ushas. Nothing will," Koschei said.

"Okay but just remember that you asked for it," Ushas said as she let him inside.

Kali stood there eyeing him like he was her next victim which he assumed that he was. It didn't matter if he was though. She wasn't scaring him off. He had made up his mind that he was going to have a relationship with Ushas, and that's what he was going to do.

"So you're the latest model, eh?" Kali asked.

"I'm not just the latest. I'm the last. I'm the last boyfriend she's ever going to want or need," Koschei said confidently.

"Arrogant, aren't you? I like that. Maybe I'll go slightly easier on you than I did the last one. They took him out of here in restraints for his own protection I believe by the time I was done," Kali said with a grin.

"They won't have to do that for me. I'm already insane," Koschei said as he gave her a grin of his own.

"We'll see," Kali said as she kept looking at him in an attempt to size him up.

"Will you two quit acting like you're about to start fighting to the death at any minute?" Ushas said as she finally decided to put a stop to this.

"She's very charming, Ushas. I can't imagine how she got such a fearsome reputation," Koschei said.

Kali disappeared for a minute and reappeared with a cup of tea. She offered it to Koschei who accepted even though Ushas shook her head at him in warning.

"I just wanted to give this to you as a peace offering. I'm afraid that we both got off on the wrong foot. This will show you how I really feel about you," Kali said.

"I'm sure. Well, here's to your health," Koschei said as he drank the entire cup.

Kali waited expectantly, and then she became alarmed when nothing happened. She began to wonder what was going on.

"Waiting for something?" Koschei asked.

"Why aren't you sick?" Kali asked.

"Should I be?" Koschei asked.

"What did you put in that tea?" Ushas asked in anger.

"Oh, don't worry, Ushas. It was nothing too bad. Still it should have produced some kind of reaction," Kali said in confusion.

"Kali, what was in it?!" Ushas demanded.

Koschei scanned the cup with his laser screwdriver as he said, "That's what I thought. You put something in this tea to make me violently sick to my stomach the rest of the night, didn't you?"

"Why aren't you sick?" Kali asked again.

"I anticipated such a trick, Kali. I coated my stomach with the antidote to every emetic to be found on Gallifrey. I drank a healthy dose of it on the way over here," Koschei admitted with a smug smile on his face.

Kali was fuming at her failure. She quickly left the room without speaking any further.

"I can't believe she did that. No, I can believe it actually. I just hoped for once that she wouldn't. I wanted this day to be special, Koschei," Ushas said sadly.

"It already is. I'm sitting here with you. That automatically makes it special," Koschei said.

"You're good," Ushas said as she smiled at him.

"I am, aren't I?" Koschei said.

Kali fumed. She wasn't beaten yet though. She still had another trick up her sleeve, and she was going to spring it any minute now.

"I just want to apologize for what I did and shake your hand, Koschei. How about it?" Kali asked.

She noticed that Koschei was wearing gloves just as she was. It was too bad for him that her gloves were much more than just accessories. They had a hidden shocking device inside of them. It was an old trick that she had picked up from a visit to Earth. They called it a joy buzzer. Her version was much more powerful than that however. Her gloves really could generate electricity, and they packed enough real voltage to knock a person out for hours!

Kali smiled as Koschei went to shake her hand. Then she screamed in anguish as nothing happened!

"I believe the words that you're looking for are 'Curses! Foiled again!'" Koschei said.

"How?" Kali asked.

"What were you going to do to him? What's in those gloves?" Ushas asked.

"Enough voltage to give me a real shock I'm sure. Luckily for me though, I decided to wear these electrically insulated gloves made out of rubber that keep me from being electrocuted. They look good on me as well. I think I'll keep wearing gloves. I've always loved basic black," Koschei said with a grin.

"Stop it, Kali! Stop it!" Ushas shouted at her.

"I might as well. It seems like none of my usual tricks work on him anyway," Kali said as she left the room in anger.

"She's not going to give up you know," Koschei said with a chuckle.

"Why are you so happy? She is trying to run you off, you know. What's so funny about that?" Ushas asked in bewilderment.

"She's failing miserably, Ushas, and she'll continue to. I'm not leaving. I'm here to stay. She won't drive me away like she does everyone else. She's not going to make you a prisoner in this house. Not if I can help it," Koschei said.

"You don't understand. She doesn't want to make me a prisoner or deny me my own life. She's just very, very overprotective. She thinks that it's her job to make sure that I only wind up with the best person. She's trying to see if someone really cares about me or not. In her twisted logic she thinks that if she does these things to everyone who wants to be in my life that she'll make sure that I'm only surrounded by the best and most loyal of people," Ushas explained.

"I think she just likes torturing people," Koschei replied.

"That too," Ushas admitted.

Kali had one last plan. If this didn't work, then nothing would. She had been slowly gaining a wide range of mental powers during the last several years and had told no one about them not even Ushas. She was slowly learning to control them in secret, but she had to admit that if they disappeared tomorrow that she wouldn't be unhappy. She was terrified of them and of the effect that they were slowly having on her.

Now she was about to put those powers to the test. She was going to try to use them to control another person for the first time. This both excited and frightened her. What if she grew to like it?

She reached into Koschei's mind in an attempt to command him to leave and never come back. Then she screamed in pain as she began to hear the drums that Koschei heard every single moment of his life. They were completely overwhelming to her, and she couldn't stand them. She had to break the connection for the sake of her own sanity.

Koschei smiled even as Ushas went to investigate her sister's screams. He had felt her try to break into his thoughts and knew what she would find there. She couldn't get into his mind unless she wanted to experience the same pain that he did, and he very much doubted that.

"Are you alright?" Ushas asked Kali as she found her in her room shaking all over.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me, okay?" Kali said with a reassuring smile.

"If this is some kind of frustration about not being able to drive off Koschei, I'm afraid that you're just going to have to get over it. I like him, and he's going to stay. I love you, Kali, but you're just going to have to stop interfering in my life!" Ushas said firmly.

"He can stay," Kali said.

"What?" Ushas asked in absolute shock.

"I like him too. He can stay. Tell him I won't bother him anymore," Kali said.

"I don't know what brought this on but thank you," Ushas said as she embraced Kali.

Kali smiled. It wasn't just because of the love that her sister was displaying towards her though. It was also because she had finally found someone who she couldn't scare off or manipulate. She had finally found someone who could protect her sister from anyone. Even her.

She had wanted that because she knew that the day was coming when her sister might need that protection. Her new powers were doing something to her. She could feel the effects of them more and more everyday as they slowly warped her mind and personality. She wanted someone there to keep Ushas safe from her in case she ever completely lost her way.

She thought that she had finally found that someone. She knew even from being in his mind for an instant that Koschei would do anything for Ushas including killing her if it came to it. She was finally able to relax at last. She felt reassured that at least her sister would be safe from her when the inevitable happened even if no one else was.

**Next: Arkytior officially names Cassiopeia's godparents. One of them may not be who you think they'll be. Cydonia meanwhile is acting oddly lately, and Theta wants to know what's going on because he's worried about her. Why does she keep talking to herself so much? Plus Cliodna and Oisin become closer and closer as we get to see what he was like when he was still a Time Lord. There will be more with Koschei and Ushas too so don't be worried about them not showing up. **


	17. Theta Sigma's House of Horrors

CHAPTER 17

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

THETA SIGMA'S HOUSE OF HORRORS

As the weeks passed by and Arkytior's pregnancy progressed further, she became bigger and bigger. She was really beginning to become self-conscious now and was afraid any day not that Theta was going to be repulsed by her. Every day though without fail Theta continued to kiss her with as much as passion as he always had.

When Arkytior brought her size up to him and told him her concerns about it, he just smiled as he let her know in no uncertain times that she would always be the most beautiful woman in the universe to him and was even more beautiful now that she was carrying his child. She had to admit that his words had finally put her mind at ease with regards to how Theta felt about her in this condition. For someone who could be such an idiot sometimes, he was amazingly sweet and sensitive when he needed to be.

Despite what he said about her size not mattering to him though, Theta did notice that Arkytior was having trouble getting around his tiny, cramped apartment now. He really needed a place with more room in it especially with Cassiopeia on the way. He knew that he had to find a place outside of the Academy. It should be a place where Arkytior would feel more comfortable and less constricted. Having to be in such a small place was probably what was making her feel so much bigger than she really was.

Theta decided to pay his mother Calliope a visit after Arkytior finally told him how badly that she was starting to feel about herself. He never wanted her to feel that way again, and she wouldn't if he could help it.

"Mum, I need to have a bigger place to live now that Ari is pregnant. She deserves a better home than some cramped little apartment. Do you have any place that you're not using that you could give us or do you know of a place that's available?" Theta asked.

"Well there is that old house near where Cydonia lives. It's not in very good shape, but it does have plenty of room in it. It's just been sitting there abandoned. I'm sure that you could probably get it for nothing. It's fixing it up that will be the problem. You're not exactly that great at fixing things, Theta," Calliope said.

"What are you talking about? I fix things all of the time," Theta said indignantly.

"Your definition of fixed and mine have always been very different, Theta. Do you remember how you 'fixed' the food machine? It put out jelly babies for weeks," Calliope said.

"So?" Theta asked.

"I hate jelly babies! That was all it would make too until I had a professional fix it," Calliope said.

"You hate jelly babies?!" Theta said as if he considered such a thing to be unnatural or impossible.

"Yes, Theta. Believe it or not, not everyone shares your love of sweets," Calliope said as she smiled at him.

"Okay, that's one time that I didn't quite fix something like I should have. Most of the time I fix things correctly though," Theta insisted.

"How about when you 'fixed' the monitor, and all it would pick up was re-runs of that human science fiction show from an alternate reality? I couldn't call anyone for weeks," Calliope said.

"I liked that show myself. I thought that the main character was unbelievably handsome and intelligent," Theta said.

Calliope rolled her eyes as she said, "What about the time that you put up some new shelves with your sonic screwdriver, and they all fell down as soon as I put something on them?"

"That was a simple mistake. I simply forgot to reverse the polarity on the sonic. Anybody could have made it," Theta protested.

"All of my best china busted into a million pieces when the shelves collapsed!" Calliope said.

"Is there a point to all of this besides making me feel lower than dirt?" Theta said as he pouted.

"I never meant to make you feel bad, Theta. I'm just saying that the house needs a lot of work done to it, and I'm not sure that you're the best man for the job. Maybe you could find something somewhere else if you wait a little longer," Calliope suggested.

"No, that's the one that I want. Besides it's near Cydonia. It'll be nice to have her as a neighbor. She can be close by to help if Arkytior ever needs someone when I'm not there," Theta said.

"That's the real reason that you want that house, isn't it? You want to make sure that someone is nearby to watch over Ari," Calliope said as she gave her son a warm smile.

"Yeah. I worry about her," Theta admitted.

Calliope hugged her son tightly with pride as she said, "I'm glad that you care so much about her. She's very lucky to have someone like you in her life."

Theta shook his head as he said, "No, I'm the lucky one. Without her, I'd be nothing. I'd be empty inside."

"You know that's not true," Calliope said.

"Yes, it is. I would never be the same again without her," Theta said.

"Get her the house if you're that worried about her, Theta," Calliope advised.

"Thanks, Mum," Theta said as he turned to leave.

Just then he noticed that a light was flickering near the door. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, and the light immediately returned to normal.

"See? I can fix things," Theta said with a confident smile as he left.

Five seconds later the entire electrical grid of the house blew out, and Calliope burst out laughing. She had learned a long time ago that was the best way to deal with her son's repair jobs. She would call someone to fix it as soon as she could make her way out of the house in the dark.

Theta rushed to the rundown house to give it a quick look. After assuring himself that he could easily repair everything wrong with it, he bought it. He knew that he should have told Ari about it first, but he wanted it to be a surprise. He hoped that it would make her feel better about things.

After leaving the house, he ran right into Cydonia. She was smiling at him as if she knew exactly what he had just done. He always got the feeling that she knew much more about what was going on in his life than she let on. He wondered if she used spying devices like Koschei.

"What are you up to, Theta?" Cydonia said happily.

"Don't tell Ari, but I just bought a new house. It's that one right there," Theta said as he pointed at the old house.

"Yeah I figured that was what you had been up to. I know you very well, Theta Sigma. Do you really think that you can fix that place up? It's heavily damaged. It really requires an expert," Cydonia said.

"Here's your expert. Me! If it's broken, I can fix it," Theta said with a smug grin on his face.

"Yes, he has always been that way. I know that better than anyone," Cydonia said.

Theta looked at her oddly. Who was she talking to?

"I agree. The place will be a disaster area within a week. I'm taking bets on how long it will take before Ari slaps him," Cydonia said with a chuckle.

"Cydonia, are you alright?" Theta asked in concern.

"I'm fine, Theta. I'm just thinking about conversations that I'm going to have with Cliodna and Koschei about this in the future and how I'm going to answer them," Cydonia quickly answered.

"Are you sure? You know that you can always come to me if anything's wrong. I'll understand, and I'll do my best to help you with whatever it is," Theta said.

Cydonia gave him a warm smile and kissed his cheek as she said, "I know and I love you for that. I'm fine though, Theta. I promise."

"Okay. I'll see you soon then, Cydonia. We're going to be neighbors. Isn't that great?" Theta asked with a smile as he tried to hide his concern for his friend.

"Yes, it is. I'll be able to watch Ari for you while you're away at the Academy and she's out of classes," Cydonia said.

"How did you know that I would ask you to do that?" Theta asked.

"I told you. I know you, Theta. I've grown up with you after all," Cydonia said.

"You're a good friend, Cy. I'm so lucky to have you," Theta said as he suddenly embraced her.

"Don't worry about me, Theta. I'm fine I promise," Cydonia reassured him.

Theta smiled as she read his mind yet again somehow. One day he was going to figure out how she did that.

As he left, Cydonia let out a sigh of relief. She had become so used to talking with Clara that she had forgotten that Theta wasn't supposed to know about it. She would have to watch that kind of thing in the future, or he'd think that she had lost her mind.

It was funny hearing Clara's predictions about what would happen to the house. She knew that they were so true. She looked forward to telling Clara what happened next because she knew that she would get a real kick out of it. She could bring it up to the Doctor and give him endless grief about it.

Theta ran home to find Ari with Cliodna and someone that he had never seen before. From the looks that Cliodna was giving him though he assumed that this was the oh so wonderful Oisin that she had been talking about non-stop for weeks. So much so that he had gotten sick of hearing about him and how great he was a long time ago.

"Theta, this is Oisin," Cliodna said with a big silly grin plastered all over her face.

Oisin had wavy blond hair, deep blue eyes, and perfect teeth. Theta had only thought that he was sick of him before. Now he was really tired of him. He was the original Mr. Perfect at least according to Cliodna, and it turned out that he had the looks to match.

"Hello, Thete. How are you doing?" Oisin said as he gripped his hand tightly.

"Thete?" Theta said in an insulted voice.

He hated that nickname! No one called him that but his friend Drax. He only let him get away with it because he liked Drax so much. This guy wasn't even appealing to him. He was too perfect and too smug about it. He was just not his cup of tea at all. He couldn't wait for Cliodna to get him out of there.

Cliodna could sense that Theta wasn't too enthusiastic about meeting Oisin so she quickly said, "Well, I guess we'll go now. Theta has something to tell Ari. I'm sure that he wants to do it in private."

"How did you know about that?" Theta asked in surprise.

"That's my little secret, Theta," Cliodna said.

"It was Cydonia, wasn't it?" Theta said.

"She couldn't wait to tell someone. I didn't tell Ari though. I really wish that I could be here when you do, but I don't think that Oisin wants to. Besides, I know that you don't want him to see you cry," Cliodna said.

"What are you talking about? Theta asked.

"You always cry when Ari slaps you for doing something stupid. I'm sure that this time won't be any different," Cliodna said with a smirk as she quickly left with Oisin.

"I don't like that guy. He's too smug and arrogant. He's so full of himself. 'Oh, I'm so wonderful with my perfect hair, my great teeth, and my chiseled features. Everyone should love me as much as I love myself'," Theta said as he pretended to be Oisin kissing himself.

"Sounds like you're jealous to me, Theta. I don't know why. You're much more handsome than he is. I'll take your chiseled features any day," Arkytior said as she gave him a tender kiss.

"Thanks, Arkytior. I hope that you're still feeling that way about me in a minute," Theta said nervously.

"What did you do? I know that you did something from Cliodna's comments and that look of terror on your face," Arkytior said.

"Please don't hit me. I promise that I did it to make you feel better," Theta said.

"It's alright, Theta. Just tell me," Arkytior said as she smiled at him to reassure him that she wasn't going to slap him.

"I bought us a house," Theta said.

"Really? That's wonderful! Where is it?" Arkytior asked with a huge smile.

"It's right near Cydonia. We'll have Cy as a neighbor! Won't that be great?" Theta said.

Arkytior's eyes went wide as she realized which house that he was talking about. She had to use all of her willpower not to slap him right then and there.

"I just did it to make you feel better because I hate it that you keep feeling so down about your size. I just wanted to get you a new place so that you'd have something to feel happy about. Also I got it because I wanted to give Cassiopeia a place to run and play. I know it needs a lot of work, but I can fix it. I promise," Theta said.

Despite herself, Arkytior began to smile; and she kissed him as she said, "I love you, Theta Sigma."

"So I did good?" Theta asked.

"That remains to be seen, but your hearts were in the right place. That's all that matters to me right now," Arkytior said.

Koschei and Ushas came to the door just then, and Theta could see a huge grin on Koschei's face. Lately that meant one of two things. Either he was with Ushas or he was smiling at someone else's expense. Today it meant both apparently based upon what he said next.

"So I see that you haven't told her yet because she's still smiling," Koschei said.

"How does information about everything that I do pass around so quickly?" Theta asked in amazement.

"He told me, Koschei. I think it's wonderful," Arkytior said.

"You do?" Koschei asked in shock.

"He did it to make me feel better because I've put on a few pounds," Arkytior said.

"That's so sweet! Why can't you do something like that?" Ushas asked.

"You mean something monumentally stupid? I'm too smart to," Koschei said.

"I know it's stupid. There's no denying that. I'm just saying that it's romantic," Ushas said.

"If you say so," Koschei said in confusion.

"Hey! Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Theta pouted.

"Your brain evidently isn't even if your body is," Koschei quipped.

"Now is that any way for the Godfather of our future child to be talking about the father to be?" Arkytior asked.

"Godfather? Really?" Koschei said as his face lit up.

"Yes. You're going to be Cassiopeia's Godfather, Koschei," Arkytior said.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, Ari!" Koschei said as he hugged her.

Ushas smiled at this unusual display of emotion. She had a feeling that what she was seeing was a rare glimpse of the real Koschei even if it was only on display for a brief moment. She liked what she saw.

"Now I just have to tell the person who's going to be the Godmother," Arkytior said with a huge grin on her face.

"I thought you already did. Didn't Cliodna just leave?" Koschei asked.

"It's not Cliodna," Arkytior said.

"Then who is it?" Koschei asked.

"Ushas, would you do me the honor of being the Godmother to Cassiopeia?" Arkytior asked.

Ushas looked at her in shock as she said, "Me? What about Cliodna? Or Cydonia?"

"They can have the next baby. I want you to have this one. I decided to pick both of you as the godparents because I think that the two of you are so perfect together, and you make such a great couple. You're going to be the perfect example for my little girl of what a relationship should be about," Arkytior said.

"Thank you, Ari. This really means a lot to me," Ushas said in tears.

"To me too. Thank you, Arkytior," Koschei said.

Arkytior and Ushas became very close from that point forward. Arkytior had a huge smile on her face the rest of that day as she kept thinking about how happy that she had made Ushas. She deserved it though for making Koschei so happy.

The smile on her face lasted until the next day when Theta took her to see the inside of their new home. She was still attempting to smile at that point, but it was through gritted teeth.

"So what you do you think, Arkytior?" Theta asked.

The place was a dump if ever there was one. Almost nothing in it worked or if it did work it only worked halfway. The walls were cracked and the wallpaper was coming off of them. The windows were busted or shattered. Worse yet, the ceiling and the floor had holes in them everywhere.

"I think that we should have it shot out of an airlock and put it out of its misery," Arkytior said.

"Now don't say that, Ari. I'll fix it all up and have it looking perfect in no time. You'll see," Theta reassured her.

"I can hardly wait," Arkytior said with a sigh as nightmarish images of the other times that Theta had 'fixed' things flashed through her mind.

**Next: Theta singlehandedly tackles all of the problems of his and Arkytior's new home. Will Clara turn out to be right? Will he turn the house into a disaster area in less than a week? (Although to be honest it hasn't got that far to go so don't blame Theta too much even if that does happen.)**


	18. The Fall of the House of Sigma

CHAPTER 18

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF SIGMA OR TIME CRASH PART DEUX

Theta brought Koschei, Ushas, and Cliodna to see his and Arkytior's new home. He flashed them all a proud smile as he said," I just wanted you to see it the way it is now before I start to work on it. That way you'll appreciate just how much of a genius that I am at fixing things once it's finished. Come on inside and take a look."

"Are you sure that it's safe to go in there?" Cliodna asked hesitantly.

"Of course it is. They wouldn't sell it if it wasn't safe to walk around in would they?" Theta said confidently.

"You'd be surprised. What I know about the real estate practices in this area would have made you think twice about buying this deathtrap if you had bothered to consult me about it ahead of time instead of blindly rushing into it with your eyes closed as usual," Koschei said.

"You think you know everything, don't you?" Theta said with a frown.

"I don't just think I do. I know I do. I have proven over and over again that I am the master of every subject known to Gallifrey and some that aren't," Koschei said with a smug look on his face.

"You never mastered modesty though, did you?" Cliodna said with a grin.

"It's not being prideful to simply state the truth about what you can do. To do otherwise would be dishonest. You wouldn't want me to lie, would you?" Koschei asked with an evil grin.

"Why not? You do it all of the time anyway," Cliodna said.

"I never lie about the important things," Koschei said.

Ushas was surprised as she watched the three friends verbally joust with each other. Cliodna had just called him a liar, and he didn't even blink. This was a different side of Koschei from the one that he showed her. Here he was boastful, full of pride and beyond arrogant. Despite all of this, Theta, Arkytior and Cliodna not only liked him but accepted the negative qualities about him with a sense of humor.

She was sure that they must have seen the side of him that she did as well in order to do that. They must know the gentle, caring soul that he could be on the inside in some way, shape, or form in order to ever put up with the rest of his personality. She knew that if she didn't know who he really was that she would have been utterly repulsed by this other persona already.

Theta began to show them through the house, and the three of them were shocked at how bad a shape that it was in. The floor was so warped and full of holes that Cliodna almost fell once as they walked through the house and would have surely been badly hurt if Koschei hadn't caught her. She smiled at him and gave him a warm embrace in appreciation for this.

Ushas smiled at him as well as this was the Koschei that she knew. The fact that Cliodna wasn't surprised by his actions showed that she was right about his friends' relationship with him.

"I'm sorry, Clio. I really didn't think that it was dangerous. Are you okay?" Theta asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't think that I'll go any further inside of it though. Theta, you need to just sell this mess to someone else or just abandon it. You're going to get yourself killed if you try to fix this thing," Cliodna warned.

"I'm sorry," Theta said again as he hugged her.

"I'm okay. Just sell it, alright?" Cliodna said in a gentle voice.

"I can't. No one would buy it. It's been on the market for several months now. Maybe I should just abandon it," Theta said as he suddenly worried about Arkytior getting hurt inside of it just like Cliodna almost did.

"That's a good idea. You could level it and build something else on the land," Ushas suggested.

"Maybe," Theta said as he looked around him in despair.

"Theta, you're not still planning on trying to fix this place yourself, are you?" Koschei said in disbelief.

"No. I'm not even sure where I would start. It's just that I wanted to give Ari a new place to live so much. She deserves a good home," Theta said sadly.

Cliodna smiled at him as she said, "You'll get her one eventually. It just won't be this one. Don't worry about it. It's the people inside of it that make a house a home not how big it is."

"Why do rich people always say things like that?" Theta said.

"I'm not rich. It's my family's money not mine," Cliodna said.

"It might as well be yours the way that you wave it around to get what you want. Although you never put on airs. That's one thing that I've always loved about you," Theta said.

"So you admit that you love me?" Cliodna said with a wicked grin.

"Of course I do," Theta said.

"You heard him, Koschei and Ushas. So the next time he says something sarcastic or mean spirited to me I want one of you to remind him of this. He said that he loves me. Let's see what he says then," Cliodna said.

"I can both love and hate you at the same time, can't I?" Theta asked.

"Of course you can. I feel the same way about you after all," Cliodna said as she smiled a mischievous grin at him.

"I just downright loathe you myself. There's definitely no love lost between us," Koschei said.

"Thanks, Koschei. I knew that I could always count on you," Theta said with a smile.

"Of course you can," Koschei said with a straight face, and Ushas knew that his statement held a double meaning to it.

Theta seemed to know this too as he smiled at Koschei warmly. Koschei then turned and left the house with Ushas and Cliodna. The three of them remained silent until they walked out of earshot of the old house. Then they began to talk among themselves.

"Do you really think he'll do it?" Cliodna asked.

"I'm not sure. I think that when you fell it shocked him into rethinking things. He won't do it for pride anymore. Now he'll be thinking of Ari's safety. He might still try it in order to give her a proper home though. He thinks that she deserves only the best," Koschei said.

"So why does he want to give her this dump?" Cliodna asked.

"He thinks that he can make it into a marvelous mansion. He's always overestimated himself when it comes to his maintenance abilities. He has a marvelous mind, but he can't repair anything correctly to save his life. I had to help him in order for him to pass his test on how to fix a chameleon circuit. He was completely in the dark about how to repair one. I'm still not sure that he knows how to fix one even to this day," Koschei said.

"Maybe I should tell Arkytior about what happened to me. She's probably the only one who could talk him out of this now," Cliodna said.

"Let's go there right away then before the house collapses on top of him," Koschei urged.

Cydonia overheard what they had just said from her bedroom window and decided to keep an eye on Theta until Arkytior could get there. She went to the house and stood outside of one of its windows as she watched what Theta was up to.

"What's he doing now? Did he actually stop?" Clara asked Cydonia.

"He's just standing there. He looks like he can't make his mind up about it. He still wants to do this for Arkytior I can tell. He loves her so much. I wish I could find someone like that," Cydonia said in an almost jealous tone.

Clara smiled but said nothing. She shouldn't tell Cydonia too much about her own future after all.

As Cydonia watched him, Theta seemed to come to a decision; and he pulled out his sonic screwdriver again. He went right back to work and started to use the sonic to repair the house along with his other tools.

"He's actually going to do it. He wants Ari to have a home that badly. It would be so romantic if it wasn't so unbelievably stupid at the same time," Cydonia said.

"Should we try to stop him?" Clara wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe he's supposed to do this. You'd know more about this than I would, wouldn't you? You're the one who's with his future self right now," Cydonia said.

"Yeah but he probably wouldn't tell me if I asked him. He's too afraid that I'll tamper with his past. He doesn't like the idea of me being able to talk with you as it is. He's constantly worried that he's going to wake up with two heads, or at least that's what he starts saying whenever I bring it up anyway," Clara said.

"Maybe he's right. I should just stay out of it and let Ari talk his past self out of it when she comes," Cydonia said.

"That's probably a good idea, yeah. That way we can't affect anything either one way or the other. We're just sitting here watching it like the comedy that it is. Do you have popcorn on Gallifrey? If you do, then now's the time to break it out. The Doctor's about to try to fix an entire house! I just know that this is going to be a disaster of monumental proportions!" Clara said happily.

"He never improves, does he? He's exactly the same in your time as he is in mine, isn't he?" Cydonia asked as she shook her head.

"That's right. The Doctor is always predictable and completely reliable. You can always count on him to make something even worse than it was before all in the name of 'fixing' it," Clara said with a chuckle.

Theta whistled a happy tune to himself as he continued to fix the floor. He had decided to do that first after Cliodna's fall. He worked at that for a few minutes until he realized that it was too dark inside in order to continue working properly. He knew that he would need a source of light in order to do the job right. He decided that he was going to have to fix the electrical system to the house first of all in order to have some lights before he could do any more work on the floors.

He used the sonic to start repairing the frayed wires throughout the house, and then when he was sure that he was finished he turned the power back on. He frowned as he saw that the lights were very dim. He couldn't work properly under such low light at all.

He would have to find a way to get more power to them somehow. He needed all of the lights to be much brighter than they were now.

"Now he's working with the electrical system. This is not going to be good, is it?" Cydonia asked in a slightly frightened voice.

"Cy, I think that you'd better back away from there right now. I've seen the Doctor with wires before. It's not a pretty sight," Clara warned her.

As Cydonia began to back up by several feet, Theta decided that to increase the energy output to the lights that he had to find a more powerful energy source. He smiled as he thought of an energy source that was both powerful and portable. He quickly ran to the museum to get Arkytior's TT Capsule.

Just at that moment, Arkytior finally arrived after Cliodna had told her what happened. She knocked on the door as she said, "Theta? Where are you? I need to talk to you right now. Theta?"

"Arkytior, he's not here. He got a huge smile on his face and ran out. He'll probably be back in a minute though. That was his 'I have a brilliant idea that's probably going to blow up in my face' look. I've seen that one before," Cydonia said as she walked over to her.

"I have too. A lot. Have you been spying on him?" Arkytior asked with amusement.

"Yeah, I was trying to keep him from hurting himself until you got here. I hope you don't mind," Cydonia said.

"No, of course not. I need all of the help keeping him out of trouble that I can get. I can always use an extra nanny for him," Arkytior said with a chuckle.

"My human self was a nanny," Cydonia said.

"I know. I remember you telling me that. That's why I said it," Arkytior said with a grin.

Then they both froze in surprise as they heard the sound of the TT Capsule materializing inside of the house. They looked at each other in disbelief as they saw Theta wiring the electrical system of the house to the console of the capsule. What was that man up to?

"There. Now I'll have plenty of light once I turn the lights back on. Sometimes I'm so clever that I even surprise myself," Theta said to himself as he held up the sonic screwdriver.

He hit a button on the sonic, and the lights all came back on so bright that they almost blinded Arkytior and Cydonia. They had to back away from the window and move back from the house as they both rubbed their eyes to get the spots out of them.

"That's a little too bright, isn't it?" Theta said to himself with a frown.

He went back inside of the capsule and began tinkering with the connection to the electrical system as he tried to turn the power down to a more manageable level. As he did so, something sparked, and the Capsule started to shudder.

"What the?" Theta said as both the house and the Capsule began to dematerialize together.

"Theta? Theta? What have you done?" Arkytior screamed in terror as the house vanished right in front of her.

"Clara, what's going on?" Cydonia said without worrying about Arkytior overhearing. Ari was too frightened out of her wits right now to pay any attention to her anyway.

"I don't know. The Doctor's never told me anything about this. I need to go find him and see if he's okay," Clara said as she ran to the Console Room in concern.

Cydonia began to panic now too because not even Clara seemed to know what was going on for once. If Clara didn't even know, then that made her very, very scared.

As Arkytior began to cry, Cydonia said, "I'm sure he's okay, Ari. Don't worry."

"If he doesn't come back, I'll kill him!" Arkytior said in an upset voice.

Theta looked on in despair as he wondered where in time and space that he and the house were going to wind up. He was surprised to find himself floating in the Vortex and realized that the Capsule had sent him here by default. It must have been one of the safety settings. It sent him to the Vortex and extended an oxygen shell over the house to keep him safe. He breathed a sigh of relief as he went to hit the fast return switch.

Unfortunately when he turned around he saw that another Capsule was suddenly inside of his own in the far corner of the Console Room. This one was in the shape of a blue box. What was going on here?

As the blue box's front doors opened, a woman who looked just like Cydonia but who Theta somehow knew wasn't her took one look at him and screamed, "Doctor! There's something out here that you need to see right now!"

"Oh, what is it now, Clara? I'm sure that you're getting all hysterical over nothing. Believe me, whatever it is I've seen it or something just like it before. I've seen it all," the Doctor said as he poked his head out the door.

"Oh, no!" the Doctor said as he saw his younger self.

"Oh, no!" Theta said as well as he recognized the Doctor as being his older self immediately.

"Yes, it is a bit overwhelming, isn't it? Just settle down, and I'll have it all fixed in no time," the Doctor said confidently

"That's not what's making me so upset. What are you wearing? Don't tell me that my fashion sense gets that bad in the future? What's to become of me?" Theta said as he looked at the Doctor's bow tie in horror.

"Well, there's no need to be rude. Bow ties are cool! You'll figure that out for yourself one day when you grow up a little more," the Doctor pouted.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Clara began laughing her head off. The Doctor looked at her with a frown as he began to pout even more now.

"No one appreciates just how ahead of my time I am," the Doctor said.

"What time is that exactly? Am I the court jester in some tacky castle in the Dark Ages now?" Theta asked with a groan as he turned away from the Doctor's outfit in disgust.

Clara continued to laugh her head off as the Doctor said, "Maybe I should just leave him here and let him figure it out for himself. That would serve me right!"

**Next: Theta and Eleven continue to trade insults and clash with each other as they try to figure out a way to send Theta back home. Will Clara be able to keep them from killing each other long enough for them to succeed?**


	19. Trapped In Another World

CHAPTER 19

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

TRAPPED IN ANOTHER WORLD

"Well? Are you going to keep standing around there in that hideous outfit all day or are you going to help me go home already?" Theta asked impatiently.

"I suppose I'll have to if only to shut you up," the Doctor said with a sigh.

"Is he always this difficult to deal with?" Theta asked Clara.

"You have no idea," Clara said with a frown.

"No, but I'm sure I can imagine though," Theta replied with a smile as he decided that he liked Clara already.

"Traitor! Whose side are you on anyway?" the Doctor said as he glared at Clara.

"I'm on the same side that I'm always on. Rose's," Clara joked.

"I always knew that you liked her better than me," the Doctor said even as he tried not to smile at her.

The Doctor went to the console as he tried to come up with a way to safely separate the two TARDISes without puncturing a huge hole in the space-time continuum. Theta meanwhile was busy staring at Clara which was suddenly making her very nervous.

Theta noticed this as he said, "I'm sorry. I wasn't leering at you. It's just that you look so much like a friend of mine. You wouldn't happen to know someone named Cydonia, would you?"

Clara smiled as she said, "Intimately, Theta. I am Cydonia. Well, I sort of am anyway."

"What? You're human though not a Time Lord," Theta asked in confusion.

"It's a long story that you're not going to remember anyway after I send you back home so what's the point of telling it," the Doctor said.

"Excuse me but I was talking to her not you. I actually like her," Theta said.

"Of course you do. Clara's one of my dearest friends so it just stands to reason that even you would like her," the Doctor said.

"Even me? What's that supposed to mean?" Theta asked.

"Nothing," the Doctor said nonchalantly.

"That fellow's insufferable! How do you put up with him?" Theta asked Clara.

"I ask myself that every day," Clara said with a giggle.

"Oi! I'm right here you know," the Doctor said as he pouted.

"I've been trying to forget that actually," Theta said.

"I like you, Theta. I can see why Cydonia does too now," Clara said.

"Wait a minute! Cydonia hasn't been talking to herself, has she? She's been talking to you. You're connected to her somehow in some kind of telepathic link. She's not sick at all. I was so worried about her," Theta said with relief.

"She's fine, Theta. She's just been telling me what you've been up to while I've been telling her a little about your future. Just a little bit. Nothing too big," Clara said.

"That's very dangerous though. You could wind up changing your own past by doing that if you accidentally tell her something important, and she alters things somehow," Theta warned.

"I know. I've been telling her that all along, but she just insists on speaking to Cydonia on a constant basis anyway. She never listens," the Doctor said from the console.

"Why don't you do something about it then?" Theta said.

"Me? What do I have to do with it? Clara's the one who's doing it not me. Why don't you get angry at her?" the Doctor asked indignantly.

"I actually like her that's why," Theta said as he smiled at Clara.

"You're impossible," the Doctor said with a groan.

Clara's smile quickly faded as she said, "Doctor, have you found a way to send Theta back home yet? Cydonia says that Arkytior is going insane with worry right now."

"What's she doing? Is the baby okay?" Theta asked as he suddenly became distraught.

"I'm sure that she's fine," the Doctor said as he became immediately sympathetic to his past self.

"You've got to get me back there. If something happens to Ari or the baby because of my stupidity, I'll never forgive myself," Theta said as he became extremely upset.

"She's fine so far. She's just very worried. She's going to be okay, Theta. I promise you that," Clara said as she put her arms around him in comfort.

"I'm okay, Theta," Rose said as she suddenly came into the Console Room.

"Rose, you shouldn't be here. He already knows too much already," the Doctor said.

"You're going to wipe his memory of this anyway so who cares? I just want to calm him down. I never could stand to see you upset," Rose said.

"Ari?" Theta asked in shock.

"Hello, Theta," Rose said as Clara made way for her.

Rose embraced Theta and softly cupped his face in one hand as she said, "I'm okay, Theta. Stop worrying."

"You were Jackie!" Theta realized with complete astonishment.

"What?" Clara asked in complete confusion.

Theta was referring to when he and Arkytior accidentally met Rose while she was still human and looking for the Doctor. It was just before she found him again during that whole incident with the twenty seven planets. Clara of course knew nothing about this.

"Yes, I was," Rose admitted as she lovingly stroked his face.

"Why were you human though, and who were you searching for? Was it me? What happened?" Theta asked.

"You're just full of questions today, aren't you?" Rose said with a laugh as she gave him a peck on the lips.

The Doctor winced, and Rose smiled at him. She just loved it when the Doctor was jealous of himself.

"Doctor, something's wrong! Cydonia says that Arkytior is starting to glow all over!" Clara said in distress.

The Doctor looked at Rose as she said, "That's really the reason why I came up here, Doctor. I'm about to pay you a visit in, oh, about five seconds."

"What?!" Both Doctors said at once.

Arkytior suddenly arrived inside of the TARDIS glowing with golden energy, and she immediately made her way to Theta. She embraced Theta with concern as she said, "I had to risk using my powers again. I needed to make sure that you were safe. My Theta!"

"Ari, how?" Theta asked in complete incomprehension.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're safe and with me," Arkytior said as she kissed him passionately.

"You always did have this overwhelming urge to protect me, didn't you?" the Doctor asked Rose.

"I wonder why," Rose said with a smirk.

"Clara, is Ari alright?" Cydonia asked in concern from the past.

"She's alright, Cydonia. Everything's okay," Clara said.

"Well, not yet it isn't. We've still got to send them, the past version of the TARDIS, and this mess of a house back home first," the Doctor said as he overheard her side of the conversation.

Arkytior looked around her in confusion as she noticed where she was for the first time now. She looked at Rose and smiled as she said, "It was you. You were the girl looking for Theta. You're Jackie. You're me."

"Yes, again. I never should have used that name. It was the first one to pop into my head though," Rose admitted.

Arkytior looked at Rose with elation all over her face as she said, "I don't die! I get to stay with Theta!"

Rose's face darkened as she said, "Eventually, yes."

"What aren't you telling me?" Arkytior asked in concern.

"I'm afraid that you can't know that yet, Arkytior. I'm sorry. I'll just say that it all works out okay in the end. I have to erase your mind about all of this anyway. You won't remember this again until you're me," Rose said.

Arkytior nodded and said with a warm smile, "I knew that I liked you. I just couldn't understand why."

"It's because unlike the Doctor I usually get along pretty well with myself. Well, most of the time anyway," Rose said as she thought back to a certain occasion at the Eye of Orion not too long ago.

Then Arkytior turned to look at the Doctor and laughed. She walked over to him and straightened out his bow tie with a smile as she said, "I love your wardrobe. It's just so you."

"Oh, please! Does that really look like something that I'd wear, Ari?" Theta complained.

"Yes," Both Arkytior and Rose said at the same time.

"I would not," Theta pouted.

Arkytior finally realized that she was still glowing with Vortex energy, and Theta wasn't afraid or full of hatred towards her. She looked at him in shock as she said, "You're okay with what I am?"

"I'm really not exactly sure what's happening to you yet to be honest. Since it's still you though and you don't seem to be hurt or dying I'm just fine about it. I was waiting on you to explain, but it's okay if you don't want to," Theta said.

"I thought that you would hate me or be afraid if you found out," Arkytior said.

"Why? You're still my Ari. I'm just worried that whatever's going on might hurt you. That's all that I'm concerned with," Theta said.

Arkytior smiled with a wide grin that covered her entire face as she said, "I love you, Theta Sigma!"

She embraced him and gave him a tender kiss as she rested her head on his shoulder. She was finally able to accept who she was at last.

Rose looked at her sadly as she knew that this peace of mind would soon be taken from her again. She didn't want to do it, but she would have to in order to maintain the timeline. She felt terrible for having to do this to her younger self.

The Doctor touched Rose's arm in sympathy as he realized what was going through her head. She smiled at him, and the two of them held hands even as the Doctor finally figured out what he had to do in order to send his other self back home.

"Okay. I think I know how to separate our two TARDISes from each other safely. Clara, you're going to have to help Theta pilot his TARDIS back to make sure that he doesn't accidentally destroy himself before he can get back home," the Doctor said.

"No offense, Clara, but I don't need your help. I can pilot the Capsule just fine, future me. Thank you very much!" Theta protested.

"I remember how bad I was at driving the TARDIS at this point in my life. I hadn't mastered it then like I have now. You're liable to crash yours right into the side of mine and blow us both up. No, we're going to let Clara do it for you," the Doctor insisted as he tried not to tell them the real reason why.

"What about me? Why can't I do it?" Arkytior protested.

She then looked visibly upset as she finally realized the answer to that question.

"We're going to have to wipe your and Theta's memories of all of this so you won't be able to pilot it," the Doctor finally admitted.

Arkytior looked down at the floor in sadness. She had wanted to remember. She understood why she couldn't, but she had still wanted to. It would have helped her so much to know that Theta didn't care what she was.

"Why me though and not Rose?" Clara asked suspiciously.

"The Doctor has his reasons, Clara. Do you trust us?" Rose said.

"Yes, always," Clara said without hesitation.

Rose smiled outwardly but on the inside she felt even more like a heel than she already did for what was to come as she said, "You have to do this. Trust me. Everything will work out alright in the end though."

"You mean in the same way that it did for you?" Clara asked as she became very, very suspicious now.

"I promise nothing like that will happen to you. I won't let it," Rose said firmly.

Clara looked at her for a long moment as she studied her face, and then she smiled and nodded.

Clara went outside to the earlier version of the TARDIS as she waited for Arkytior and Theta to join her. The two of them were busy at the moment having their memories of this incident blocked by the Doctor until the day came that they were supposed to meet their future selves. The Doctor and Rose then carried their two past selves back into the earlier TARDIS and laid them down inside of it.

After the Doctor told Clara exactly what to do to separate Theta's TARDIS from his without causing any further problems in the timestream, he and Rose went back inside their own TARDIS. They were now fully prepared at both ends to separate the two time machines from one another.

"Wait a minute, Doctor. There's still the matter of the house. It's still a piece of junk," Rose said.

"Oh, that's right. I almost forgot about that. Wait a minute though. So you mean that it was you who . . . ?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"I guess so. It is a very timey wimey solution, isn't it?" Rose said with a grin.

"Yeah, it is. I knew there was reason why I married you," the Doctor joked.

"You mean it wasn't just because of my intelligence, wit, sense of humor, and the fact that I'm willing to put up with you for the rest of my life?" Rose said as she kissed him.

"Well, yeah. That plus you're the most beautiful woman in the universe. That helped too," the Doctor admitted.

"You just want another kiss, don't you?" Rose asked.

"Yes," the Doctor admitted.

"You always did know just what to say," Rose said as she gave him his wish and kissed him again.

"I hate doing this to Clara," the Doctor admitted.

"So do I. It'll be alright though. You remember that it was," Rose said.

"Yeah, I know. I still hate it though. She's my friend, and I feel like I'm betraying her," the Doctor said.

"It has to be this way in order to maintain the timeline. I'm sorry. She'll understand. I hope," Rose said.

"I certainly hope so. It won't be you that she'll slap if she doesn't, and I'll deserve it too for once," the Doctor said sadly.

"Let's stop hesitating, Doctor. Do it," Rose said.

The Doctor began to separate his TARDIS from Theta's even as Clara did the same back on her end. Rose's eyes glowed with energy as she used her powers to fix everything wrong with the old house even as both it and Theta's capsule went back to their own time and place.

Cydonia smiled and was filled with joy as the house suddenly returned. She ran inside of it to find Clara there with the still unconscious bodies of Theta and Arkytior inside of the TT Capsule.

Cydonia and Clara looked at each other with a smile as they finally met each other in person for the very first time. Then they hugged each other tightly.

"It's so good to finally meet you," Cydonia said.

"Same here," Clara said.

"So the Doctor's coming to get you soon?" Cydonia asked.

"I'm not sure. He was acting strangely as if something was about to happen," Clara admitted.

"You don't think that he would leave you here, do you?" Cydonia asked with worry.

"Not unless he had to for some reason. I'm worried that's what's happening. I like you Cydonia, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life with you," Clara admitted.

"I wouldn't mind if you do have to. It would be nice to have a sister. I just hope for your sake that you won't have to stay here too long," Cydonia said.

Then she looked around at the house in amazement as she said, "What happened? It's fixed!"

"Rose," Clara said with a grin.

"She's that powerful in the future?" Cydonia asked in amazement.

"You have no idea," Clara said.

Then Theta and Arkytior woke up with no memory of what happened after the house disappeared. They both looked at each other in puzzlement even as Arkytior hugged Theta to her tightly. She was so glad to see him again that she didn't particularly care about how he got back.

They turned to look at Clara in amazement as they both said at the same time, "Who are you? Are you the one who brought the house back?"

Clara said nothing. She wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't mess around with the timestream.

"Did you fix it? You didn't have to. I was going to get around to it. Eventually," Theta said.

"I don't know how you fixed this mess up or even how you brought Theta back to me but thank you!" Arkytior said as she hugged Clara.

"Why do you look exactly like Cydonia? Are you related to her?" Theta asked.

"She's my twin sister," Cydonia quickly said.

Theta pretended to buy this for Cydonia's sake with a simple nod of his head even as Arkytior looked at her oddly. She started to remember Cydonia's story about originally being human before. Then she finally realized in shock just exactly who this strange new arrival must be. It was Cydonia's human self from the future!

She stared at Cydonia who only nodded to her in confirmation that what she had just realized was true. Arkytior sighed. She had no idea what had just happened, but she knew that the future Theta must have had something to do with it.

As soon as Theta left to look over the newly restored house in amazement, Arkytior asked Clara, "How long are you staying here?"

"I don't know," Clara said in a worried voice.

"Don't worry. We'll make sure that everything's okay. First, we'll have to make sure that you're not discovered as a human. That didn't work out so well for a friend of mine a while back. It's a good thing for you that I have an extra ring that can send out fake Time Lord life signs, huh?" Arkytior said as she produced a ring from out of the pocket dimension where she sometimes stored things.

"This one's new and improved. It should fool everyone into thinking that you're a Time Lord if it has to. Cydonia will have to get you some new clothes too so that you don't stand out. Are you going to let her stay with you?" Arkytior asked as she slipped the ring on Clara's finger.

"Yes, of course. She can stay with me as long as she needs to," Cydonia said.

"Thank you," Clara said in a shaky voice as she began to get upset.

"It's okay. We won't let anything happen to you I promise," Arkytior reassured her.

"That's right, sweetheart. We'll take care of you," Cydonia said.

"I just don't understand why I was left here. Why would they do this to me?" Clara asked.

"I'm sure that they had a good reason for it. I know that I would never leave someone especially a friend somewhere in the past unless I had no other choice, and I wouldn't rest until I got them back," Arkytior said.

Without realizing it, she had made Clara fell much better by saying that. Clara knew that she just had to hold onto the hope that Rose and the Doctor would come back for her soon when they could.

They had to. Surely she wasn't meant to spend the rest of her life stuck in the past. Was she?

**Next: While Clara slowly adjusts to living in the Gallifrey of the past, Theta and Arkytior move into their new home. Will it be everything that they hoped for or will it turn out to be a nightmare? What horrible secret will they find hidden in the basement?**


End file.
